Lease extension section 42

CroydonChar86

I am currently buying a maisonette. It has 91 years on the lease. I would like this extended. The owner/seller refused to pay for it. Therefore i have paid a solicitor to do a section 42 with The seller. The solicitor is now refusing to serve the notice suggesting my future lease extension serves it. My future lease extension solicitor can only work with me once it is transferred to me. My conveyancing solicitor and i are caught in the middle whilst i am left paying for 4 solicitors & no responsibility or accountability being taken.  I need the section 42 served to exchange & complete & my mortgage runs out very soon too! Any advice welcome! Thanks 

NameUnavailable

Your vendor has to start the Section 42 process which can then transfer to you on completion to carry through with a lease extension. Surely the solicitors should understand this? If your vendor is refusing to co-operate then you either have to proceed as it stands and wait 2 years until you can make a statutory request to extend, or negotiate directly with the freeholder once you have bought, or walk away.

amylan

Arguably given your lease term remaining is 91 years, there is typically no urgency to extend the lease. If you are looking to extend as soon as possible, another option could be to pursue an informal lease extension after purchasing the property rather than waiting the 2 years to serve your statutory s42 notice.