Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold house in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Hampstead Garden Suburb who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 be sure 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).

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Hampstead Garden Suburb where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner 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 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 sale.

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.

Can you provide any advice 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 bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Hampstead Garden Suburb leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
• A minority of Hampstead Garden Suburb 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Hampstead Garden Suburb home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 275000 garden flat in Hampstead Garden Suburb next Tuesday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Hampstead Garden Suburb?

For most leasehold sales in Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Hampstead Garden Suburb
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Hampstead Garden Suburb leasehold property is £350. For Hampstead Garden Suburb 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.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firm to assist?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hampstead Garden Suburb residence 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 23.66 years.

I purchased a studio flat in Hampstead Garden Suburb, conveyancing having been completed in 2004. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Hampstead Garden Suburb with a long lease are worth £182,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2100

With 74 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.