I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in March. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering March.

Due to complete next month on a ground floor flat in March. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in March should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the property, or having a home office for business
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in March. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in March who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a March conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in March both have about 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in March. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in March. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I acquired a studio flat in March, conveyancing was carried out 2002. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in March with a long lease are worth £253,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2087

With just 61 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £19,000 and £22,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.