Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my lease in Totteridge. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Totteridge.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Totteridge. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Totteridge please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Totteridge

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Totteridge.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Totteridge. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Totteridge who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Totteridge conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £375000 flat in Totteridge on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Totteridge?

Totteridge conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves fees being raised by management companies :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Totteridge
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Totteridge leasehold property is £350. For Totteridge conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply answers.

I am the leaseholder of a first floor flat in Totteridge. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

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

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Totteridge premises is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

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Lease Extensions in Totteridge