Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Arnos Grove:

Any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Arnos Grove, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Arnos Grove leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

My husband and I may need to let out our Arnos Grove ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Arnos Grove conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Arnos Grove do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Arnos Grove. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Arnos Grove should include some of the following:

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • The physical extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but might include a roof space or cellar if applicable.
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Arnos Grove please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Arnos Grove

  • I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Arnos Grove where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Arnos Grove conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Arnos Grove with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Arnos Grove can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Arnos Grove charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Arnos Grove.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Arnos Grove leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present 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 buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore 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 premises on the market for sale.

  • Completion in due on our sale of a £300000 maisonette in Arnos Grove in 5 days. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Arnos Grove?

    For most leasehold sales in Arnos Grove 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 Arnos Grove
    • 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 Arnos Grove leasehold premises is £350. For Arnos Grove 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 answers.

    Following months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Arnos Grove. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Arnos Grove conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Arnos Grove flat is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 70.31 years.