To be worried by the freeholders approach

[stretto]

We are buying a flat, and the vendor is extending the lease at her own expense, but needs to be paid for the flat before she can afford to extend the lease. The remaining lease is about 60 years, and she will extend it to 150 years.

Latest from our solicitors is that the vendor's solicitors approached the freeholders but "they are not playing ball" whatever that means.

I thought a freeholder was obliged to grant a lease extension. Should we be concerned, both in terms of the implications for the lease, and for what it says about the freeholders/management company. Or is this quite normal?

Quite normal for freeholders to try and squeeze out as much money as possible in my experience, especially in a situation such as this where they might realise the lessee is selling and therefore really needing to extend to be able to sell. She's getting to the level where it would be hard to sell to anyone who needs a mortgage. She is currently going down the "informal" route it sounds like and will probably need to go down the "formal", legal route.
Read all about it here
www.lease-advice.org/

Very helpful link, thank you. Should it be ringing alarm bells that hey are not being helpful, do you think? Might it indicate a troublesome freeholder?