Leasehold Conveyancing in Enfield Town - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Town, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Enfield Town conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Enfield Town leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Enfield Town. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Town should include some of the following:

  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • The physical extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but might include a loft or basement if appropriate.
  • Defining your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or staircase?
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Enfield Town please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Enfield Town

  • I am attracted to a couple of flats in Enfield Town both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    There are plenty of short leases in Enfield Town. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

    I am employed by a busy estate agency in Enfield Town where we see a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Enfield Town conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

    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 buyer 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 needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

    If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £325000 apartment in Enfield Town on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Enfield Town?

    Enfield Town conveyancing on leasehold apartments often necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    Following years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Enfield Town. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

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

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Enfield Town residence is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 81.79 years.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Town what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Town. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts 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

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express 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 pull out.