Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Colney Hatch - 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.

I am intending to let out my leasehold apartment in Colney Hatch. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Colney Hatch conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Expecting to exchange soon on a basement flat in Colney Hatch. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Colney Hatch where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Colney Hatch conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

I have given up seeking a lease extension in Colney Hatch. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Colney Hatch flat is 90 & 96 Poplar Grove in June 2013. It was held by the Tribunal that the premium to be paid for the new lease in respect of each of the flats referred should be £17,942 This case related to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 68 years.

What makes a Colney Hatch lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Colney Hatch