Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Arnos Grove. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Arnos Grove.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Arnos Grove.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 until 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.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Arnos Grove which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Arnos Grove. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Arnos Grove where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Arnos Grove conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Despite our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Arnos Grove. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Arnos Grove conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Arnos Grove property is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 70.31 years.