Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Petts Wood. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Petts Wood.

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Petts Wood. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Petts Wood should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Petts Wood. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Petts Wood ?

The majority of houses in Petts Wood are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Petts Wood in which case you should be shopping around for a Petts Wood conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.

I am attracted to a two flats in Petts Wood both have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Petts Wood. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Petts Wood where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Petts Wood conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

I inherited a first floor flat in Petts Wood. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Petts Wood residence is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 50.57 years.

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Lease Extensions in Petts Wood