Friern Barnet leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Friern Barnet. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Friern Barnet.
I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Friern Barnet.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?
It best that you pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have since found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Friern Barnet. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Friern Barnet ?
The majority of houses in Friern Barnet are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Friern Barnet so you should seriously consider looking for a Friern Barnet conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Friern Barnet where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Friern Barnet conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start 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 has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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.
Having spent years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Friern Barnet. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Friern Barnet conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Friern Barnet residence 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.
What are the common deficiencies that you witness in leases for Friern Barnet properties?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Friern Barnet. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
- A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
- Insurance obligations
- Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
- Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall
A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.
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