I only have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Highgate. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Highgate.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Highgate. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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 ensure 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 long established estate agency in Highgate where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Highgate conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 buyer need not have to wait 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 simultaneously with 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 Highgate with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Highgate can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Highgate charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Highgate.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers 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 settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Highgate conveyancing deal. Where a new share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 200000 garden flat in Highgate on Monday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Highgate?

Highgate conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be content to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Highgate conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Highgate flat is Flat 2A 19 Shepherds Hill in June 2014. The tribunal concluded in accordance with section 48 and schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act (the 1993 Act) that the premium payable in respect of the grant of a new lease for the Flat be £24,303 (twenty four thousand three hundred and three pounds) This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 67.85 years.

I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Highgate, conveyancing having been completed in 2010. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable flats in Highgate with a long lease are worth £183,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2088

With 62 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £18,100 and £20,800 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.