I only have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Coombe. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. 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 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 prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Coombe.

Expecting to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Coombe. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• The total extent of the demise. This will be the property itself but could also incorporate a roof space or basement if applicable.
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Coombe which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. 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 because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Coombe from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Coombe levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe.
• A minority of Coombe 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Having spent months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Coombe. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Coombe conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Coombe residence 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 affected 4 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 98 years.

What makes a Coombe lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Coombe is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I bought a basement flat in Coombe, conveyancing having been completed in 1996. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Coombe with a long lease are worth £240,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2087

With only 61 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,900 and £24,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.