I only have 62 years unexpired on my flat in Becontree Heath. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and prepare 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 conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Becontree Heath.

I own a leasehold house in Becontree Heath. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Becontree Heath who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Becontree Heath conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Becontree Heath which have about forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Becontree Heath is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 premises 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 Becontree Heath conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Becontree Heath with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Becontree Heath can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Becontree Heath charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Becontree Heath.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Becontree Heath conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 325000 flat in Becontree Heath next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Becontree Heath?

Becontree Heath conveyancing on leasehold flats often necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in Becontree Heath. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Becontree Heath property is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 61.36 years.

I bought a studio flat in Becontree Heath, conveyancing was carried out in 2000. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Becontree Heath with an extended lease are worth £209,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2106

You have 80 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is 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 detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.