Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Canonbury. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Canonbury.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Canonbury both have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Canonbury is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Canonbury conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Canonbury with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Canonbury can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Canonbury charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Canonbury.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Canonbury state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
• Some Canonbury leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Canonbury home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £ 350000 apartment in Canonbury next Thursday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Canonbury?

Canonbury conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I am the leaseholder of a first flat in Canonbury. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for a lease extension?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Canonbury conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Canonbury premises is 5C Stoke Newington Road in April 2010. the Tribunal therefore concludes that the premium to be paid for the extended lease is £700.00 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 80.5 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Canonbury what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Canonbury. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Leeds Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Canonbury - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Where a Canonbury lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the salability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Canonburylease extensions you will be required to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease. Be sure to discover if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Canonbury leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Canonbury. If you like the propertyin Canonbury but your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a hard compromise.