Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in East Finchley:

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in East Finchley, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to East Finchley leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my lease in East Finchley. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence 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 vesting order request to the County Court covering East Finchley.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in East Finchley. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in East Finchley who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a East Finchley conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in East Finchley. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in East Finchley from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in East Finchley can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in East Finchley charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in East Finchley.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? East Finchley leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • Some East Finchley 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 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 lawyers.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • We expect to complete the sale of our £325000 maisonette in East Finchley in 10 days. The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in East Finchley?

    East Finchley conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    Having spent years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in East Finchley. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a East Finchley property is Ground Floor 110 Station Road in June 2013. The Tribunal found that the premium payable for a lease extension should be £31,665. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 56.65 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in East Finchley