Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years left on my lease in Seven Sisters. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Seven Sisters.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in Seven Sisters. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Seven Sisters should include some of the following:

• Setting out your rights in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• 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 you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I am looking at a two flats in Seven Sisters which have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Seven Sisters. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

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

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Seven Sisters can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Seven Sisters charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Seven Sisters.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Seven Sisters state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
• A minority of Seven Sisters leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Seven Sisters conveyancing firm to assist?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Seven Sisters property 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 affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 74.13 years.

Are there common deficiencies that you encounter in leases for Seven Sisters properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Seven Sisters is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Barnsley Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Seven Sisters - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

It is important to be aware whether changing the roof or some other major work is due in the near future that will be shared by the leaseholders and will materially increase the the service costs or necessitate a one off payment. How is the lease structured?