I have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my flat in Gospel Oak. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Gospel Oak.

I own a leasehold flat in Gospel Oak. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Gospel Oak who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Gospel Oak conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Gospel Oak both have about 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Gospel Oak. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I work for a reputable estate agency in Gospel Oak where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Gospel Oak conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 375000 flat in Gospel Oak in just under a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Gospel Oak?

Gospel Oak conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically necessitates administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Gospel Oak
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Gospel Oak leasehold property is £350. For Gospel Oak conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide the information.

We have reached the end of our tether in seeking a lease extension in Gospel Oak. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Gospel Oak conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Gospel Oak flat is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 64.77 years.

I bought a leasehold flat in Gospel Oak, conveyancing was carried out in 1995. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Gospel Oak with a long lease are worth £168,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2106

You have 80 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.