Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Hermitage. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Hermitage.

I own a leasehold house in Hermitage. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Hermitage who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Hermitage conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am attracted to a two flats in Hermitage which have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Hermitage. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 475000 apartment in Hermitage on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Hermitage?

Hermitage conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

What makes a Hermitage lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Hermitage. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, Virgin Money, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I purchased a studio flat in Hermitage, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Hermitage with an extended lease are worth £183,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2083

With just 57 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £24,700 and £28,600 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.