Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Holborn. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Holborn.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Holborn. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Holborn ?

The majority of houses in Holborn are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Holborn so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Holborn conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Holborn which have about 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Holborn. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Holborn. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Holborn where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Holborn conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

After months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Holborn. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Holborn residence is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 66.8 years.

Holborn Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

What is the service charge and ground rent on the apartment? Make sure you discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance it is very common in Holborn leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Holborn. If you love the apartmentin Holborn however your cat can’t live with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice. Most Holborn leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the freeholder. Where you buy the flat you will have to meet this liability, usually periodically accross the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say around £50-£100 but you need to check as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.