Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Chalk Farm. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Chalk Farm - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years remaining on my lease in Chalk Farm. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Chalk Farm.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Chalk Farm. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 reputable estate agency in Chalk Farm where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Chalk Farm conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chalk Farm from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chalk Farm can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Chalk Farm leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
• Some Chalk Farm 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Chalk Farm conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in Chalk Farm. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Chalk Farm premises is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 64.77 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Chalk Farm - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability? Its a good idea to discover as much as you can regarding the company managing the building as they can either make your life much easier or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day issues such as the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours whether they are happy with their service. Finally, investigate as to the dates that the service charges are due to the managing agents and specifically what it includes.