Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in Maldon. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Maldon.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Maldon. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage went though with no issue. 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 Maldon who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Maldon conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Maldon where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Maldon conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. This means that the buyer 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 at the same time as 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 choosing a Maldon conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Maldon conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Maldon conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Maldon in the last 12 months?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Maldon from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Maldon can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Maldon charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Maldon.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Maldon leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. 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 discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Maldon conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Maldon, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Maldon with an extended lease are worth £228,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2081

With only 55 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £29,500 and £34,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.