I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Tottenham Green - 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 am employed by a reputable estate agency in Tottenham Green where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Tottenham Green conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start 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 commence 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 sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Tottenham Green conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Tottenham Green 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 make enquires with two or three firms including non Tottenham Green conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Tottenham Green in the last year?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Tottenham Green levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. 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 accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tottenham Green.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Tottenham Green state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.

A minority of Tottenham Green leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Tottenham Green conveyancing transaction. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £250000 apartment in Tottenham Green next Monday . The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Tottenham Green?

Tottenham Green conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in fees being invoiced by management companies :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Tottenham Green
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Tottenham Green leasehold property is £350. For Tottenham Green 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 required to provide the information.

Following months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Tottenham Green. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Tottenham Green flat is 22 Wakefield Road in January 2012. Following a vesting order Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court under section 26 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 on 9th May 2011 the Tribunal decided that the price that the Applicant for the freehold interest should pay is £17,400 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 74.13 years.