Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Wash. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Enfield Wash - 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.

My fiance and I may need to rent out our Enfield Wash garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Enfield Wash conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Enfield Wash do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Enfield Wash. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Wash with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Wash can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Enfield Wash levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Enfield Wash.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Enfield Wash leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.

Some Enfield Wash leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £350000 garden flat in Enfield Wash in just under a week. The management company has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Enfield Wash?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Enfield Wash 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 conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Enfield Wash
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Enfield Wash leasehold premises is £350. For Enfield Wash 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 obliged to provide the information.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Enfield Wash. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Enfield Wash conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Vesting Order and Purchase of freehold decision for a Enfield Wash premises is Ground Floor Flat 4A Baronet Road in February 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 23rd December 2008 (case number 8ED064) the Tribunal decided that the price that the Applicant for the freehold interest should pay is £8,689.00 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 80.01 years.