I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my lease in Southgate. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Southgate.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Southgate. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Southgate ?

Most houses in Southgate are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Southgate in which case you should be shopping around for a Southgate conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Southgate which have about 50 years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Southgate is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 Southgate 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 Southgate conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Southgate conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Southgate conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions have they conducted in Southgate in the last year?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Southgate with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Southgate can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Southgate levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Southgate.

Having spent years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Southgate. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Southgate conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Southgate property is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 70.31 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Southgate