Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years left on my lease in Hermitage. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Hermitage.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Hermitage. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Hermitage. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Hermitage ?

The majority of houses in Hermitage are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Hermitage in which case you should be looking for a Hermitage conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should report to you on the legal implications.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Hermitage both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Hermitage is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. For most purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Hermitage conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I work for a busy estate agency in Hermitage where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Hermitage conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

I acquired a garden flat in Hermitage, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Hermitage with over 90 years remaining are worth £218,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2082

With just 60 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £22,800 and £26,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Hermitage