I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Tufnell Park. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Tufnell Park - 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.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Tufnell Park. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Tufnell Park who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Tufnell Park conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two flats in Tufnell Park both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Tufnell Park. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly 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 because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Tufnell Park where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Tufnell Park conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Tufnell Park conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Tufnell Park conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Tufnell Park conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Tufnell Park who can give a testimonial?

Despite our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in negotiating a lease extension in Tufnell Park. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Tufnell Park property is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 64.77 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tufnell Park