There are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Langley. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate 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 in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Langley.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in Langley. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
• Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the property, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I own a leasehold flat in Langley. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Langley who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Langley conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. 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 tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Langley both have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Langley is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. 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 property 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 Langley conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Langley with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Langley can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Langley levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Langley.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Langley leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

I own a ground flat in Langley. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Langley conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Langley premises is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69 years.

I own a ground floor flat in Langley, conveyancing having been completed in 2007. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Langley with over 90 years remaining are worth £236,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2104

You have 78 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above 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 this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.