I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Eastcote. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Eastcote.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Eastcote. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Eastcote are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Eastcote in which case you should be shopping around for a Eastcote conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will appraise you on the various issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Eastcote. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Eastcote who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Eastcote conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Eastcote both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Eastcote where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Eastcote conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Eastcote conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Eastcote property is Flat 72 Queens Walk in January 2013. The Tribunals calculated the premium payable to be £22,090. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 53.26 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Eastcote