Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my flat in Coombe. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. 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 overseeing Coombe.

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Coombe. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The 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 expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or working from home
• 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 options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Coombe. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Coombe who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Coombe conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Coombe which have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Coombe is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with less than eighty 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 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 Coombe 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 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 work for a reputable estate agency in Coombe where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Coombe conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having 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 extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Following months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Coombe. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Coombe residence is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case affected 1 flat.

Coombe Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

How much is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the apartment?