I only have Sixty One years left on my flat in Strawberry Hill. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Strawberry Hill.

I've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Strawberry Hill. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Strawberry Hill are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Strawberry Hill in which case you should be shopping around for a Strawberry Hill conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising 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 such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Strawberry Hill where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Strawberry Hill conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

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 can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Strawberry Hill conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Strawberry Hill conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Strawberry Hill conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Strawberry Hill with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Strawberry Hill can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Strawberry Hill charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Strawberry Hill.
• Some Strawberry Hill leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 solicitors.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Following months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Strawberry Hill. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Strawberry Hill premises is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.45 years.

I acquired a split level flat in Strawberry Hill, conveyancing having been completed in 1997. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Strawberry Hill with an extended lease are worth £181,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2093

With only 67 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.