I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Woodside Park. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Woodside 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 only have Sixty One years left on my flat in Woodside Park. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Woodside Park.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Woodside Park. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Woodside Park are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Woodside Park so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Woodside Park conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Woodside Park from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Woodside Park can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Woodside Park charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Woodside Park.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Woodside Park leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

Some Woodside Park leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £200000 garden flat in Woodside Park in seven days. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Woodside Park?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Woodside Park
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Woodside Park leasehold property is £350. For Woodside 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 provide the information.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Woodside Park. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Woodside Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Woodside Park residence 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.