Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Tottenham Hale. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Tottenham Hale.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you clear the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Tottenham Hale where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Tottenham Hale conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Tottenham Hale conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Tottenham Hale conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Tottenham Hale conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £350000 garden flat in Tottenham Hale on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tottenham Hale?

Tottenham Hale conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Having spent months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Tottenham Hale. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Tottenham Hale conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Tottenham Hale property 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 affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 74.13 years.