Choosing a solicitor for lease extension

NervyBuyer · 23 March 2022 at 2:02PM

Hi, is there a roughly standard amount solicitors charge for lease extensions (just the solicitor fees bit, not the valuation, lease cost, freeholder's fees etc)? First quote I have had is £2500 + VAT.

Is it important to choose a local solicitor (freeholder is city council) or does that not matter? I'm in an expensive area so wondering if local solicitors are going to be unnecessarily pricey for what should be a straightforward process familiar to any firm that offers the service (my neighbour in exactly the same situation has completed their lease extension recently with no complications but their solicitor is no longer available).

Thanks!

eddddy · 23 March 2022 at 2:44PM

The solicitor doesn't have to be local - but they do have to be a lease extension specialist.

Is it a statutory lease extension or an informally negotiated one?

I would say that £2.5k is towards the high-end for the solicitors fee. In my experience, fees can vary widely.

Also, I would think that dealing with a city council freeholder is likely to be much easier than dealing with a potentially 'dodgy' private freeholder - although the council might move a bit slowly.

NervyBuyer · 23 March 2022 at 3:32PM

Thanks for your reply. It's statutory, at least that's how I understand it. The freeholder will only accept an Initial Notice served by a solicitor.

eddddy · 23 March 2022 at 3:59PM

NervyBuyer said:

Thanks for your reply. It's statutory, at least that's how I understand it. The freeholder will only accept an Initial Notice served by a solicitor.

Just to clarify - the freeholder can't insist that the Section 42 notice is served by a solicitor.

If you decide to serve a valid Section 42 notice yourself, the law doesn't allow your freeholder to reject it. (But they can reject it, if the notice is invalid/incorrect.)

Also, I've come across 'non-solicitors' who will prepare and serve Section 42 notices - but you need to do your due diligence to make sure they know what they're doing.

But overall, I expect your freeholder means they prefer to deal with leaseholders' solicitors (or specialists), rather than trying to deal directly with a leaseholder who might be clueless and/or difficult.

NervyBuyer · 23 March 2022 at 10:23PM

Thanks for the clarification. I considered doing it myself, I think I'd be OK with the Section 42 but don't fancy the conveyancing bits for the new lease so I will let a solicitor do it all.