I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Colney Hatch - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Colney Hatch. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Colney Hatch ?

The majority of houses in Colney Hatch are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Colney Hatch so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Colney Hatch conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Colney Hatch which have about forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Colney Hatch. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable 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 unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Colney Hatch where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Colney Hatch conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £ 150000 apartment in Colney Hatch in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Colney Hatch?

For most leasehold sales in Colney Hatch 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 pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Colney Hatch
• 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 Colney Hatch leasehold premises is £350. For Colney Hatch 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.

After months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Colney Hatch. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Colney Hatch conveyancing firm who can help.

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 affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 68 years.

I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Colney Hatch, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Colney Hatch with a long lease are worth £248,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2083

You have 57 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £24,700 and £28,600 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.