Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years left on my flat in Trowbridge Estate. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Trowbridge Estate.

Due to complete next month on a basement flat in Trowbridge Estate. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Trowbridge Estate should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Trowbridge Estate.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge 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 until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £300000 flat in Trowbridge Estate next week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Trowbridge Estate?

Trowbridge Estate conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

What makes a Trowbridge Estate lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Trowbridge Estate is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• 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

You could have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Virgin Money, and Aldermore all have express requirements 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 buyer to pull out.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Trowbridge Estate, conveyancing formalities finalised 2001. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Trowbridge Estate with a long lease are worth £170,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2105

With only 80 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 plus costs.

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 comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Trowbridge Estate