Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Chase Cross. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

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 Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Chase Cross.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Chase Cross. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chase Cross should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Chase Cross.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you clear 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 unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Chase Cross both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Chase Cross where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Chase Cross conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Chase Cross. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chase Cross flat 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 affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 57.5 years.