I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Tufnell Park. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all 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.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Tufnell Park. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Tufnell Park with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tufnell Park can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Tufnell Park charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tufnell Park.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Tufnell Park leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 275000 maisonette in Tufnell Park on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tufnell Park?

Tufnell Park conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily involves fees being levied by management companies :

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

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Tufnell Park leasehold property is £350. For Tufnell Park 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 the information.

I own a a ground floor purpose built flat in Tufnell Park. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the premium.

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 was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 64.77 years.

What makes a Tufnell Park lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tufnell Park is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Tufnell Park, conveyancing having been completed 2012. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Tufnell Park with an extended lease are worth £186,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2079

You have 53 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £33,300 and £38,400 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.