There are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Northumberland Heath. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Northumberland Heath.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Northumberland Heath.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you pay 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Northumberland Heath. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Northumberland Heath who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Northumberland Heath conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Northumberland Heath where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Northumberland Heath conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Northumberland Heath conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Northumberland Heath in the last year?
• What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in seeking a lease extension in Northumberland Heath. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Northumberland Heath flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

I bought a garden flat in Northumberland Heath, conveyancing was carried out 2009. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Northumberland Heath with over 90 years remaining are worth £270,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2084

With 58 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £28,500 and £33,000 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.