Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in Taplow. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Taplow.

Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold house in Taplow. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Taplow who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Taplow conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two flats in Taplow which have about fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Taplow is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 premises 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 Taplow 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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 choosing a Taplow conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Taplow conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Taplow 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 many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Taplow in the last year?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Taplow who can give a testimonial?

What are the common deficiencies that you come across in leases for Taplow properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Taplow is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Direct all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I acquired a garden flat in Taplow, conveyancing having been completed 1997. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Taplow with an extended lease are worth £194,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2106

You have 80 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be 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 based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.