I want to sublet my leasehold apartment in Upper Holloway. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Upper Holloway do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I own a leasehold flat in Upper Holloway. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Upper Holloway who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Upper Holloway conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. 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 looking at a couple of apartments in Upper Holloway both have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Upper Holloway where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Upper Holloway conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Upper Holloway conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Upper Holloway conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Upper Holloway conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Upper Holloway Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

How many years are left on the lease? Most Upper Holloway leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block invoiced by the freeholder. Where you purchase the flat you will have to meet this liability, normally quarterly accross the year. This may be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a significant sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Upper Holloway