I am looking at a couple of flats in Brent Cross which have approximately fifty years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Brent Cross. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is 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 protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Brent Cross. 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 lessee 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Brent Cross where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Brent Cross conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 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 disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Brent Cross charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Brent Cross leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

A minority of Brent Cross leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £150000 flat in Brent Cross on Tuesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Brent Cross?

Brent Cross conveyancing on leasehold flats typically involves administration charges raised by management companies :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Brent Cross
• 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 Brent Cross leasehold property is £350. For Brent Cross 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.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Brent Cross conveyancing firm to help?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Brent Cross conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Brent Cross flat is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Brent Cross