My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Stroud Green. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Stroud Green who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Stroud Green conveyancing lawyer 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 legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Stroud Green both have about fifty years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I work for a long established estate agent office in Stroud Green where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Stroud Green conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stroud Green from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stroud Green can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Stroud Green charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stroud Green.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Stroud Green state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Stroud Green conveyancing transaction. Where a new share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 300000 flat in Stroud Green next Wednesday . 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 leasehold conveyance in Stroud Green?

Stroud Green conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They may charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

After years of correspondence 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 missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Stroud Green property 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 remaining number of years on the lease was 71 years.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Stroud Green, conveyancing having been completed 1995. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Stroud Green with an extended lease are worth £222,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2092

With just 66 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.