Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in North Harrow. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in North Harrow - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in North Harrow.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in North Harrow which have about forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in North Harrow is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with North Harrow conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in North Harrow where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local North Harrow conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 sale.

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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a North Harrow conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a North Harrow conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non North Harrow conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

I have had difficulty in negotiating a lease extension in North Harrow. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

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

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a North Harrow premises is flat 93b Welldon Crescent in May 2009. The Tribunals valuation for a 90-year lease extension of this fat was £13,171 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 75.25 years.

North Harrow Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?