There are only Seventy years left on my lease in Barbican. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Barbican.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Barbican. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Barbican ?

The majority of houses in Barbican 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. We note that you are purchasing in Barbican so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Barbican conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Barbican which have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Barbican is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Barbican conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Barbican where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Barbican conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Barbican with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Barbican can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Some Barbican leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Barbican home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

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

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barbican premises is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.39 years.

I inherited a split level flat in Barbican, conveyancing having been completed in 1999. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Barbican with a long lease are worth £255,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2077

You have 51 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.