I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Acton. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Acton.

I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Acton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I own a leasehold flat in Acton. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. 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 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Acton who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Acton conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Acton where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Acton conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 offer any advice when it comes to finding a Acton conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Acton conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Acton conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Acton in the last twenty four months?

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Acton. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for a lease extension?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Acton premises is 4 Woodhurst Road in July 2013. The Tribunals valuation for the premium to be paid in respect of the collective enfranchisement was £51,050. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 63.75 years.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Acton, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Acton with an extended lease are worth £245,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2099

With just 73 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues 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 before getting professional advice.