Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Bounds Green. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bounds Green.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Bounds Green both have about 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Bounds Green where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Bounds Green conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

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

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Bounds Green conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bounds Green conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Bounds Green conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Bounds Green who can give a testimonial?

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 450000 flat in Bounds Green in six days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Bounds Green?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Bounds Green conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bounds Green
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Bounds Green leasehold property is £350. For Bounds Green 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.

I am the leaseholder of a first flat in Bounds Green. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bounds Green residence is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 81.79 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bounds Green - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

How much is the ground rent and service charge? If a Bounds Green lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most Bounds Greenlease extensions you would need to own the residence for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease.