There are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Addington. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

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 extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Addington.

I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Addington.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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 am employed by a long established estate agent office in Addington where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Addington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Addington conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Addington conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Addington conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £475000 flat in Addington in nine days. The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Addington?

Addington conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Addington. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Addington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Addington premises is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76.75 and 88.83.