There are only 72 years left on my flat in West Brompton. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission 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 have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search 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 conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing West Brompton.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in West Brompton. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in West Brompton are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in West Brompton in which case you should be looking for a West Brompton conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

I am looking at a two apartments in West Brompton both have approximately fifty years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in West Brompton is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 a residence 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 West Brompton 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 You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. 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.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in West Brompton where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local West Brompton conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence 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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 375000 maisonette in West Brompton in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in West Brompton?

West Brompton conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

Having spent months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Brompton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to decide the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a West Brompton property is 5 Wetherby Gardens in June 2014. the Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the freehold of the property was £2,369,452. This case related to 5 flats. The unexpired lease term was 38.98 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in West Brompton - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. What is the length of the lease?