Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Stroud Green. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Stroud Green.

I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Stroud Green. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Stroud Green are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Stroud Green in which case you should be shopping around for a Stroud Green conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I own a leasehold house in Stroud Green. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Stroud Green who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Stroud Green conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Stroud Green which have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Stroud Green. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 275000 flat in Stroud Green on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Stroud Green?

Stroud Green conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Stroud Green. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to determine the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Stroud Green residence is 51 Lorne Road in November 2009. The price Payable as decided by the tribunal for the freehold reversion was £27,000. The valuation follows the order of the County Court made on 3 April 2008 granting a vesting order. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 71 years.

I own a leasehold flat in Stroud Green, conveyancing having been completed in 1996. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Stroud Green with an extended lease are worth £249,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083

You have 57 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.