I have recently realised that I have Seventy years left on my flat in Northwood. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order 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. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Northwood.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Due to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Northwood. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Northwood should include some of the following:

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Northwood please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Northwood

I own a leasehold house in Northwood. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Northwood who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Northwood conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Northwood where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Northwood conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 200000 flat in Northwood on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Northwood?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Northwood conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Northwood
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Northwood leasehold property is £350. For Northwood conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Northwood. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Northwood residence is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case was in relation to 3 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71 years.

I invested in buying a split level flat in Northwood, conveyancing having been completed in 2006. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Northwood with an extended lease are worth £224,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2080

With just 54 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as costs.

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 comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.