Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Highgate

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Highgate, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, RBS or NatWest be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Highgate leasehold conveyancing

My partner and I may need to rent out our Highgate garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Highgate conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Highgate do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Highgate. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Highgate should include some of the following:

  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Highgate please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Highgate

    • I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Highgate where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Highgate conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    As long as the seller has been the owner 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 buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, 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 Highgate with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Highgate can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in Highgate levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Highgate.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Highgate state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • All being well we will complete the disposal of our £450000 maisonette in Highgate in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Highgate?

    Highgate conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

    I am the leaseholder of a first floor flat in Highgate. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

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

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Highgate property 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 67.85 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Highgate