There are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Ardleigh Green. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Ardleigh Green.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Ardleigh Green.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Ardleigh Green conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Ardleigh Green conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Ardleigh Green conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• How many lease extensions have they completed in Ardleigh Green in the last twenty four months?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Ardleigh Green from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ardleigh Green can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• A minority of Ardleigh Green leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Ardleigh Green conveyancing transaction. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this 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 below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 200000 garden flat in Ardleigh Green next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Ardleigh Green?

Ardleigh Green conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

I have given up seeking a lease extension in Ardleigh Green. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Ardleigh Green premises is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 57.5 years.

I inherited a split level flat in Ardleigh Green, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Ardleigh Green with an extended lease are worth £232,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2090

You have 64 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive 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 want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.