I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Harefield. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Harefield - 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 want to rent out my leasehold flat in Harefield. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Harefield do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Harefield where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Harefield conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Harefield conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Harefield conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Harefield conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Harefield who can give a testimonial?

After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harefield. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Harefield conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harefield flat is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case was in relation to 3 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Harefield what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Harefield is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Harefield - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Where a Harefield lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for two years before you are legally able to carry out a lease extension. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Please inform me if there are any major works anticipated that will likely increase the service fees?