I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in North London. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in North London - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 wish to sublet my leasehold apartment in North London. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A small minority of properties in North London do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates 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 consent.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a garden flat in North London. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in North London should include some of the following:

• The total extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but could also include a loft or basement if applicable.
• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the property, or having a home office for business
• You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in North London where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local North London conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 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 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North London with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in North London can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in North London charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in North London.
• Some North London leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any 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 lawyers.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a North London conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

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

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a North London conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a North London flat 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 affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 73.26 years.

I inherited a garden flat in North London, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in North London with an extended lease are worth £204,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2085

With just 59 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £24,700 and £28,600 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.