Initial Notice
At South East Leasehold, we specialise in all leasehold matters, working with clients across London, Brighton, and East and West Sussex. Once you decide that you would like to formally apply for a leasehold extension, our team of surveyors and solicitors can guide you through the steps.
The Section 42 Notice, also known as the Initial Notice, is the most crucial part of the lease extension procedure. When you are ready with a valuation figure, your Solicitor will serve the Notice on the Freeholder and anyone else with an interest in the property, such as intermediate leaseholder or management company.
The Notice stipulates the amount you are offering to pay along with other details, such as the 90-year extension and the “Nil” ground rent to which you are entitled under the Act. It’s important to note that the date of service will be the valuation date, so no matter how long the lease extension takes, proceedings will always come back to the same date. Increases in house prices do not affect the valuation after the date, and your lease does not get any shorter.
The Freeholder will respond with a Section 45 Notice or Counter Notice.
The serving of the Section 42 Notice brings both the Act into force and its strict timetable of actions, which must be complied with or else a deed withdrawal will be deemed to have taken place. Serving a Section 42 Notice is not a hostile act against the freeholder, and is perfectly common and normal. In fact, most freeholders do not respond meaningfully to a leasehold extension application until after a Notice is served.
In the majority of cases, the lease extension premium is agreed and the matter proceeds to completion. One of the main advantages of a formal Notice is that ultimately you will have a resolution to the procedure at the tribunal, although tribunal hearings for lease extensions are actually quite rare.
Our team is comprised of Chartered Surveyors and qualified Solicitors that are highly experienced in the Section 42 Notice and the Leasehold Reform Act, and how it affects freeholders and leaseholders. For more information or a free consultation regarding leasehold extensions in Brighton, London or anywhere in the South East, please contact us today.