I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Splott. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. 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 for permission 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 demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to 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 absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Splott.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Splott.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Splott both have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Splott is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 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 property 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 Splott 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 the agreed 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.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Splott where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Splott conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Splott from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Splott can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Splott state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Splott, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Splott with a long lease are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2090

With 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £15,200 and £17,600 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 renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Splott