Harrow Lease Extension Solicitors & Surveyors

Usually, yes. Harrow kept its housing rather than transferring it to a housing association, so most Right to Buy leaseholders on its estates have the council as freeholder. There are exceptions, such as the Rayners Lane estate, which transferred to Home Group, and some smaller groups of homes owned by other associations.

We always check the freehold title at HM Land Registry first, because a notice served on the wrong landlord is invalid.

Probably not without advice. Grange Farm is being demolished and rebuilt in phases, and the council has said it will buy back leasehold homes at full market value, with a home loss payment and disturbance costs on top, and that it may use a compulsory purchase order if needed.

Because the length of your lease affects the market value of your flat, extending can change your compensation. We can look at the timing of your phase and set out whether extending makes financial sense.

Not necessarily. As joint freeholders you can agree to extend each other’s leases by deed, often for a nominal premium. Many owners extend both leases at the same time so they match, which helps when either of you sells.

It is still worth having the terms checked. A lender may need to consent, and a buyer’s solicitor will look closely at how the deed was done. Blakes can advise on the terms and Arcadia Law can draft and register the deed.

The premium is linked to the value of the flat, so more valuable flats cost more to extend. With identical leases, a flat worth £500,000 in Pinner will produce a noticeably larger premium than one worth £320,000 in Wealdstone.

That is why we value each flat on evidence from its own area and building type. A 1930s maisonette, a modern town centre flat and a Stanmore block flat all need different comparables.

Yes. A lease extended informally is still a long lease, so you keep your statutory right to a further 90 years at a peppercorn ground rent. The new statutory lease would remove the remaining ground rent and any review clause.

The premium will reflect the length of the current term and the value of the ground rent the freeholder gives up. We can tell you what that is likely to be before you commit.

Yes. The 1993 Act lets the landlord recover its reasonable costs of valuing the flat and dealing with the legal work for the new lease, and the council normally instructs its own valuer and lawyers.

Those costs must be reasonable. We review what is claimed and challenge anything that looks out of line. Costs the landlord runs up in a First-tier Tribunal hearing are generally not recoverable from you in the same way.

Yes. Once the Section 42 notice is served, its benefit can be assigned to your buyer on completion, and the buyer carries the claim on from where it stands, keeping the valuation date your notice fixed.

This is common with short lease maisonettes, since many lenders will not lend where fewer than 80 or 85 years remain. Arcadia Law can prepare the assignment and liaise with your buyer’s solicitor.

Most cases take six to twelve months. The landlord has at least two months to serve its counter-notice, and the negotiation follows from there. If agreement is not possible, the First-tier Tribunal can decide, which adds time.

If both sides agree terms early, the process can be quicker. Registration at HM Land Registry follows completion, and it can be expedited if you are selling or remortgaging.