Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Lewisham. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report 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 devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Lewisham.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Lewisham.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you discharge 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Lewisham both have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Lewisham. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Lewisham where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Lewisham conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Lewisham with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Lewisham can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Lewisham leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.

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

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Lewisham conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Lewisham flat is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lewisham