I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Hampstead Garden Suburb - 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.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Hampstead Garden Suburb both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Hampstead Garden Suburb. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a long established estate agent office in Hampstead Garden Suburb where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 proposed purchaser 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Hampstead Garden Suburb levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £225000 flat in Hampstead Garden Suburb next week. The managing agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hampstead Garden Suburb?

Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing on leasehold apartments often necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hampstead Garden Suburb premises is FFF, 37 and Garage 1, Queensborough Court North Circular Road in September 2012. The Tribunal determined that the premium for the lease extension should be £67,037 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 23.66 years.