leasehold extention with share of freehold

lightspeed3

I'm in the process of purchasing a 1 bed flat. When i agreed to buy the flat i was told by the estate agents there would be a new 99 year lease on the property and in addition a one-third share in the freehold released on the completion date transfer.
I now have the contracts, confirmations etc to sign and return to the solicitors but the lease has not been renewed and only has 73 years left on it.
If i own a share of the freehold does this mean i can extend the lease myself?
Also what costs are involved or should i not sign the forms and demand the new lease is put in place before completing?
any help be much appreciated

csrivats999

Hi lightspeed - Yes you can get the lease extended but there is a cost to it.
You need to go via a solicitor as the extension has be registered with land registry.I strongly urge you to get the buyer to extended the lease if you can wait or get the buyer to knock off about £1000 from the price.

Lease extension can done by the solicitors of the management company who run your flat but its a lengthy process (6 to 12 weeks due to all the admin work)

I foolishly bought my flat about 5 years ago with 70 years lease left and got the "share of the freehold" transferred to me.
Now I am forking out a £1000 to get the lease extended.

Hope this helps.

csrivats999

change "buyer" to "seller" :-)