I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Tottenham Green - 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.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years left on my flat in Tottenham Green. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order 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 prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Tottenham Green.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Tottenham Green. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• The physical extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but might include a loft or basement if appropriate.
• Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• 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
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I am looking at a couple of flats in Tottenham Green which have about forty five years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Tottenham Green is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, 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 property 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 a residence 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 Tottenham Green 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Tottenham Green levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. 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 average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Tottenham Green home move. If a new share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Tottenham Green. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Tottenham Green conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Tottenham Green premises 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 related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 74.13 years.

Tottenham Green Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Best to be warned whether redecorating or some other significant cost is anticipated to be shared by the leaseholders and may well materially impact the level of the service fees or require a one off payment. Plenty Tottenham Green leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the management company. If you purchase the property you will have to pay this amount, usually periodically during the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say around £25-£75 but you should to check as on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive.