There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Maryland. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Maryland.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Planning to complete next month on a leasehold property in Maryland. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Maryland should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Maryland please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Maryland

I am attracted to a two flats in Maryland which have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Maryland is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than eighty 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 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 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 Maryland 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 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Maryland. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 275000 apartment in Maryland next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Maryland?

Maryland conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily results in fees being levied by management companies :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Maryland
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Maryland leasehold premises is £350. For Maryland conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Maryland conveyancing firm to help?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Maryland flat is 151A Ham Park Road in May 2010. The matter came before the Tribunal by way of a vesting order made on 12 June 2009 Deputy District Judge Coonan in Bow County Court. The tribunal decided that the sum payable for the m to be paid for the lease extension was £21,445 This case was in relation to 1 flat.

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Maryland, conveyancing having been completed 1996. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Maryland with an extended lease are worth £210,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2095

With just 69 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £14,300 and £16,400 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.