There are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Stratford. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Stratford.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Stratford. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• 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 obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Stratford.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 until 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 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Stratford. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Stratford who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Stratford conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Stratford where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Stratford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 prior to, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Stratford conveyancing firm to assist?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Stratford premises is 12 Nutfield Road in July 2014. the Tribunal judged that the price to be paid by the applicants for the freehold interest should be £19,572 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72.02 years.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Stratford, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Stratford with a long lease are worth £259,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2097

You have 71 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.