There are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Freezywater. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Freezywater.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Freezywater.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am attracted to a two flats in Freezywater which have about fifty years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 300000 flat in Freezywater in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Freezywater?

Freezywater conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Following months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Freezywater. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Freezywater conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Vesting Order and Purchase of freehold matter before the tribunal for a Freezywater flat is Ground Floor Flat 4A Baronet Road in February 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 23rd December 2008 (case number 8ED064) the Tribunal decided that the price that the Applicant for the freehold interest should pay is £8,689.00 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 80.01 years.

What are the common problems that you witness in leases for Freezywater properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Freezywater. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Freezywater, conveyancing formalities finalised 2001. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Freezywater with over 90 years remaining are worth £266,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2094

You have 68 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues 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 without first seeking the advice of a professional.