There are only Fifty years left on my flat in Stepney. I now want to extend my lease 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole a specialist 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 advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Stepney.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Stepney both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Stepney is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Stepney conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Stepney conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Stepney conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Stepney conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Stepney in the last twenty four months?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stepney from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stepney can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Stepney charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stepney.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Stepney leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
• A minority of Stepney leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Stepney home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 325000 flat in Stepney next Wednesday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Stepney?

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

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Stepney
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Stepney leasehold premises is £350. For Stepney 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 the information.

I am the proprietor of a ground floor flat in Stepney. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Stepney premises is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case was in relation to 3 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 101.61 years.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Stepney, conveyancing having been completed in 2004. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Stepney with over 90 years remaining are worth £244,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2080

With 54 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.