I have recently realised that I have 72 years unexpired on my lease in East Barnet. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. 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 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 demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering East Barnet.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in East Barnet where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local East Barnet conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 sale.

An alternative approach is 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 appointing a East Barnet conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a East Barnet conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non East Barnet conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in East Barnet who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in East Barnet with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in East Barnet can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in East Barnet levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for 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 East Barnet.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? East Barnet leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a East Barnet conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore 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 property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 425000 maisonette in East Barnet in seven days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in East Barnet?

East Barnet conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

I am the proprietor of a first floor flat in East Barnet. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a East Barnet property is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 70.31 years.

I bought a 1st floor flat in East Barnet, conveyancing was carried out 10 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in East Barnet with a long lease are worth £205,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2084

You have 58 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £23,800 and £27,400 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is 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 this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.