My partner and I may need to let out our Chipping Barnet ground floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Chipping Barnet conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Chipping Barnet do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

I only have 62 years unexpired on my lease in Chipping Barnet. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Chipping Barnet.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Chipping Barnet. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Chipping Barnet who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Chipping Barnet conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Barnet with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Barnet can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Chipping Barnet charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Barnet.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Chipping Barnet home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £400000 maisonette in Chipping Barnet in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Chipping Barnet?

Chipping Barnet conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by management companies :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Chipping Barnet
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Chipping Barnet leasehold property is £350. For Chipping Barnet conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply the information.

Having spent years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Chipping Barnet. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Chipping Barnet property is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chipping Barnet