I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in North London. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in North London do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in North London. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering North London.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in North London both have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in North London is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with North London conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North London from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in North London can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in North London 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 obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in North London.

A minority of North London 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 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 purchasers or their lawyers.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a North London home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £425000 flat in North London next Friday . The managing agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in North London?

North London conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally results in administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in North London
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for North London leasehold premises is £350. For North London 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.

After years of dialogue we are unable to 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?

Most definitely. We are happy to 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 property 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 related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 73.26 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in North London