I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in North London which have about fifty years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I've recently bought a leasehold house in North London. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a North London conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a North London conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non North London conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Can they put you in touch with client in North London who can give a testimonial?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in North London with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North London can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in North London charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North London.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in North London state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible 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.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £150000 apartment in North London on Thursday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in North London?

For the majority of leasehold sales in North London conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in North London
• 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 North London leasehold property is £350. For North London 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.

We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in North London. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to determine the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a North London premises is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 73.26 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in North London