I have recently realised that I have 68 years unexpired on my flat in Grays. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Grays.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Grays. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Grays who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Grays conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Grays where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Grays conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Grays from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Grays can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Grays levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Grays.
• A minority of Grays leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Grays home move. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 275000 garden flat in Grays on Friday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Grays?

Grays conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I am the leaseholder of a two-bedroom flat in Grays. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for a lease extension?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Grays conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Grays premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case was in relation to 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.

I own a 1st floor flat in Grays, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2009. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Grays with a long lease are worth £223,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2103

With just 77 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.