I only have 62 years remaining on my lease in Angel. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Angel.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Angel. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• 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 is in violation of a provision in their lease?

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Angel which have approximately 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Angel. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Angel conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Angel conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Angel conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Angel who can give a testimonial?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

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

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Angel can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Angel charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Angel.
• Some Angel leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat 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 the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Having spent years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Angel. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Angel 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 unexpired residue of the current lease was 98 years.

I acquired a split level flat in Angel, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Angel with an extended lease are worth £238,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2083

With 57 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.