I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my lease in Smithfield. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. 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 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Smithfield.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Smithfield which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Smithfield is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Smithfield conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Smithfield conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Smithfield conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Smithfield conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Can they put you in touch with client in Smithfield who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Smithfield with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Smithfield can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Smithfield leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Smithfield home move. If a new share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £450000 garden flat in Smithfield in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Smithfield?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Smithfield conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Smithfield
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Smithfield leasehold premises is £350. For Smithfield conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Smithfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Where a Smithfield lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the residence for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease. Who are the managing agents?

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Lease Extensions in Smithfield