Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Dalston. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Dalston - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I only have Fifty years left on my lease in Dalston. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Dalston.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Dalston both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Dalston is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the premises. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 property 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 Dalston 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.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Dalston where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Dalston conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Dalston conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Dalston conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Dalston conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Dalston who can give a testimonial?

I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in Dalston. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Dalston conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Dalston flat is 150 Amhurst Road in December 2013. The tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the applicant for the enfranchisement of the subject property was £43,500. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 90 (or thereabouts).

I acquired a basement flat in Dalston, conveyancing having been completed in 2010. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar properties in Dalston with over 90 years remaining are worth £259,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2087

With just 61 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £24,700 and £28,600 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.