Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Wollaston. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Wollaston.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Wollaston.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Wollaston. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Wollaston where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Wollaston conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wollaston from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wollaston can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Wollaston state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

I acquired a split level flat in Wollaston, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Wollaston with an extended lease are worth £252,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2100

With 75 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as 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 extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Wollaston