I only have 72 years remaining on my lease in Harefield. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Harefield.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Harefield.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Harefield. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Harefield who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Harefield conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Harefield where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Harefield conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 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 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.

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

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Harefield conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Harefield conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

Following years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harefield. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

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

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harefield premises is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case affected 3 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Harefield