I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Knightsbridge. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If 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 have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Knightsbridge.

I am attracted to a two flats in Knightsbridge which have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Knightsbridge. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Knightsbridge where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Knightsbridge conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 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 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.

Having spent months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Knightsbridge. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Knightsbridge property is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 13.33 years.

Are there frequently found deficiencies that you come across in leases for Knightsbridge properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Knightsbridge. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, Leeds Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Knightsbridge, conveyancing having been completed 6 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Knightsbridge with a long lease are worth £229,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2088

With 62 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.