Leasehold Conveyancing in Southgate - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Southgate, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Common questions relating to Southgate leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Southgate. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Southgate - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Southgate. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Southgate who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Southgate conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Southgate both have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Southgate is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. 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 property 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Southgate from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Southgate can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Southgate charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Southgate.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Southgate leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 over rather than unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Southgate home move. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Completion in due on the disposal of our £375000 maisonette in Southgate next Thursday . The management company has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Southgate?

    Southgate conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

    Following months of correspondence 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?

    Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Southgate flat is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 70.31 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Southgate