There are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Wood Green. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Wood Green.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Wood Green both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Wood Green. 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 decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Wood Green conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Wood Green conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Wood Green conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Wood Green in the last 12 months?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Wood Green with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wood Green can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Wood Green levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for 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 delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wood Green.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Wood Green state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Wood Green conveyancing deal. If a new share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 225000 apartment in Wood Green next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Wood Green?

For most leasehold sales in Wood Green conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Wood Green
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Wood Green leasehold premises is £350. For Wood Green 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 provide the information.

Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Wood Green. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Wood Green conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Wood Green residence is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 81.79 years.

Wood Green Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

It is important to be aware whether a new roof is being installed or some other major work is pending to be shared by the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the service costs or require a one off payment. It would be prudent to find out as much as possible about the managing agents as they can either make your life much simpler or much more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical matters such as the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. Finally, find out the dates that the service charges are due to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending that money.