Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Botany Bay. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Botany Bay.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Botany Bay.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Botany Bay both have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Botany Bay. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Botany Bay where we see a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Botany Bay conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Botany Bay conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Botany Bay conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Botany Bay conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Botany Bay who can give a testimonial?

Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Botany Bay. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Botany Bay conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Botany Bay premises is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 70.31 years.

I am the registered owner of a studio flat in Botany Bay, conveyancing formalities finalised 2003. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Botany Bay with over 90 years remaining are worth £171,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2076

With 50 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £35,200 and £40,600 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 advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.