Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Friern Barnet

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

Common questions relating to Friern Barnet leasehold conveyancing

There are only Fifty years left on my flat in Friern Barnet. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Friern Barnet.

Due to complete next month on a studio apartment in Friern Barnet. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Friern Barnet 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 the 80 year mark
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • 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?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Friern Barnet please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Friern Barnet

    • I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Friern Barnet where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Friern Barnet conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

    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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Friern Barnet conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Friern Barnet conveyancing practice) 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 several firms including non Friern Barnet conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • Can they put you in touch with client in Friern Barnet who can give a testimonial?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £275000 maisonette in Friern Barnet next week. The freeholder has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Friern Barnet?

    Friern Barnet conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    I inherited a basement flat in Friern Barnet. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for a lease extension?

    Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Friern Barnet conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Friern Barnet premises is 34 Poplar Grove in June 2013. The Tribunal directed that the premium for the lease extension should be in the sum of £10,250. This case related to 1 flat.

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    Lease Extensions in Friern Barnet