I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my flat in Mancot. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Mancot.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Mancot.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 until 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 am attracted to a two flats in Mancot both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Mancot. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Mancot where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Mancot conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Mancot with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Mancot can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• 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 Mancot state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
• Some Mancot leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled 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 will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Mancot conveyancing deal. If a new share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Mancot, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Mancot with an extended lease are worth £186,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2079

With only 53 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.