I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Loughton. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search 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 solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Loughton.

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Loughton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear the invoice 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 unless 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.

I've found a house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Loughton. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Loughton ?

Most houses in Loughton are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Loughton in which case you should be shopping around for a Loughton conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

I work for a busy estate agency in Loughton where we see a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Loughton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Loughton from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Loughton can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Loughton levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack 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 cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Loughton.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Loughton state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Loughton conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Having spent years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Loughton. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Loughton residence is 201 & 201a St. Barnabas Road in October 2013. The Tribunal decided that the price to be paid by the Applicants for the freehold interest is £20,071. This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 69.26 years.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Loughton, conveyancing having been completed in 2000. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Loughton with an extended lease are worth £263,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2080

With 54 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.