I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my flat in Seven Sisters. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Seven Sisters.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Seven Sisters which have about forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Seven Sisters is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 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 premises 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 Seven Sisters 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Seven Sisters conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Seven Sisters conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Seven Sisters conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Seven Sisters who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Seven Sisters from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Seven Sisters can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Seven Sisters leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
• A minority of Seven Sisters leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 buyers or their solicitors.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Seven Sisters conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 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 premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 450000 garden flat in Seven Sisters in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> 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 Seven Sisters?

Seven Sisters conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They may invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

Having spent years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Seven Sisters. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to calculate the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Seven Sisters premises is 22 Wakefield Road in January 2012. Following a vesting order Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court under section 26 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 on 9th May 2011 the Tribunal decided that the price that the Applicant for the freehold interest should pay is £17,400 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 74.13 years.

I inherited a leasehold flat in Seven Sisters, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Seven Sisters with an extended lease are worth £232,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2101

With 75 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £12,400 and £14,200 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.