Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Snaresbrook. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Snaresbrook.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Snaresbrook where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Snaresbrook conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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 buyer can avoid having to wait 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 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Snaresbrook conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Snaresbrook conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Snaresbrook conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Snaresbrook in the last year?

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 450000 flat in Snaresbrook next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Snaresbrook?

Snaresbrook conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates fees being levied by managing agents :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Snaresbrook
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Snaresbrook leasehold premises is £350. For Snaresbrook 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 obliged to supply answers.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Snaresbrook. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Snaresbrook conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Snaresbrook property is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 73.92 years.

What are the frequently found defects that you encounter in leases for Snaresbrook properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Snaresbrook. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Snaresbrook Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

What prohibitions are contained in the Snaresbrook Lease? Where a Snaresbrook lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have owned the premises for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease.