Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Eaglescliffe. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Eaglescliffe.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Eaglescliffe. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Eaglescliffe should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Eaglescliffe. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Eaglescliffe who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Eaglescliffe conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Eaglescliffe where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Eaglescliffe conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Eaglescliffe conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Eaglescliffe conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Eaglescliffe conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

I purchased a studio flat in Eaglescliffe, conveyancing formalities finalised 1997. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Eaglescliffe with a long lease are worth £240,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2093

With just 69 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £13,300 and £15,400 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Eaglescliffe