Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Streatham. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to 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 absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Streatham.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Streatham. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Streatham who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Streatham conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Streatham both have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Streatham is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. 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 property 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 Streatham conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 the agreed 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 advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Streatham conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Streatham conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Streatham conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Streatham in the last 12 months?

Can they put you in touch with client in Streatham who can give a testimonial?

Completion in due on the disposal of our £400000 maisonette in Streatham on Monday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Streatham?

Streatham conveyancing on leasehold flats normally results in fees being invoiced by managing agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Streatham
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Streatham leasehold property is £350. For Streatham 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 required to provide the information.

I own a second floor flat in Streatham. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Streatham conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Streatham residence is Flat 12, Newlands Court Streatham Common North in May 2012. the decision of the Tribunal was that the premium payable by the Applicants to the Respondent for the new lease of the Premises be £70,140. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 23.25 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Streatham