I only have 72 years remaining on my flat in Addiscombe. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Addiscombe.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Addiscombe. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Addiscombe are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Addiscombe in which case you should be looking for a Addiscombe conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Addiscombe. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Addiscombe who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Addiscombe conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Addiscombe where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Addiscombe conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 start 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

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

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Addiscombe conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Addiscombe conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Addiscombe in the last 12 months?

After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Addiscombe. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Addiscombe property is 29 Woodstock Road in April 2014. the Tribunal determined that the premiums to be paid into court in respect of the purchase of the freehold registered at HMLR under Title N0.SY3997 should be £7,217. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 98 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Addiscombe