Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in Coombe. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Coombe.

I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Coombe. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Coombe ?

The majority of houses in Coombe are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Coombe in which case you should be shopping around for a Coombe conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to advising on 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 changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Coombe where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Coombe conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Coombe conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Coombe conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Coombe conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Coombe who can give a testimonial?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Coombe with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Coombe leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

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?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Coombe premises 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 was in relation to 4 flats. The unexpired lease term was 98 years.