There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Earley. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Earley.

I am hoping to complete next month on a basement flat in Earley. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Earley which have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Earley is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. 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 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 Earley conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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 work for a long established estate agent office in Earley where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Earley conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 offer any advice when it comes to finding a Earley conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Earley conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Earley conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions have they conducted in Earley in the last 12 months?

Leasehold Conveyancing in Earley - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants have control and even though a managing agent is often retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Many Earley leasehold apartments will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the management company. If you buy the property you will have to meet this contribution, normally quarterly throughout the year. This could vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. Who manages the building?

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Lease Extensions in Earley