There are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Shildon. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Shildon.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Shildon which have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Shildon. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Shildon where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Shildon conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 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.

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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Shildon with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shildon can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Shildon levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shildon.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Shildon state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.
• Some Shildon leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Shildon home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

What makes a Shildon lease defective?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Shildon. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I own a ground floor flat in Shildon, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Shildon with an extended lease are worth £255,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2089

With only 63 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is 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 comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.