There are only Fifty years left on my flat in Kenley. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Kenley.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Kenley both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Kenley is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Kenley conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Kenley where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Kenley conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 buyer 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 prior to, or simultaneously with 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Kenley conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Kenley conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Kenley conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions have they completed in Kenley in the last twenty four months?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Kenley who can give a testimonial?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 375000 flat in Kenley in nine days. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Kenley?

Kenley conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

Despite our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Kenley. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Kenley conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Kenley flat is The Woodlands 95 Purley Park Road in April 2009. The Tribunals own valuation produced the fi
gure of £37,912. This case related to 6 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 78.32 years.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Kenley, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Kenley with an extended lease are worth £214,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2077

You have 51 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £32,300 and £37,400 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.