I wish to let out my leasehold flat in Friern Barnet. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Friern Barnet do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I only have 68 years unexpired on my flat in Friern Barnet. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

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 enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Friern Barnet.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Friern Barnet conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Friern Barnet conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Friern Barnet conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

How many lease extensions have they carried out in Friern Barnet in the last year?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Friern Barnet with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Friern Barnet can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Friern Barnet levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. 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 Friern Barnet.

A minority of Friern Barnet leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Friern Barnet conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £350000 apartment in Friern Barnet next week. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Friern Barnet?

Friern Barnet conveyancing on leasehold flats typically necessitates administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Friern Barnet
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Friern Barnet leasehold property is £350. For Friern Barnet 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 supply answers.

Following months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Friern Barnet. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Friern Barnet property 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 unexpired term was 68 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Friern Barnet