Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Hendon. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Hendon - 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 a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Hendon where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Hendon conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 appointing a Hendon conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hendon conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Hendon conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Can they put you in touch with client in Hendon who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hendon with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hendon can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Hendon state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.

Some Hendon leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Hendon home move. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

Completion in due on the sale of our £150000 apartment in Hendon next week. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hendon?

Hendon conveyancing on leasehold flats typically necessitates fees being raised by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Hendon
• 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 Hendon leasehold property is £350. For Hendon 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 required to supply the information.

Having spent months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hendon. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to decide the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hendon premises is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hendon