There are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Haringey. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Haringey.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Haringey. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Haringey should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Haringey please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Haringey

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Haringey.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £425000 maisonette in Haringey in six days. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Haringey?

Haringey conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates administration charges raised by management companies :

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Haringey
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Haringey leasehold premises is £350. For Haringey 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 required to supply the information.

After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Haringey. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Haringey premises is 16 Langham Close in June 2009. The Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the Applicant to the Respondent for the grant of a new lease was £45,672. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 25.4 years.

Are there common problems that you come across in leases for Haringey properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Haringey. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

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Lease Extensions in Haringey