I have given 8 weeks notice to my current landlord and have to leave my let out apartment in West Hendon by the end of next month. Conveyancing on my purchase is underway. How realistic is it to complete in six weeks as I wish to avoid having to find temporary accommodation?

Generally one should not give notice for your tenancy unless your lawyer suggests that you should. If you have not already done so, speak to your solicitor and ask them to they chase the sellers side, try to an acceptable time-line that all parties will look towards

This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a first time purchaser of a garden flat in West Hendon. Do I receive the keys to the premises on the completion date from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in West Hendon?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

Skipton have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a apartment in West Hendon has been agreed to, now what?

Your property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (be sure the solicitors are on the lender’s panel). Telephone Skipton or the financial adviser and complete any relevant forms. Skipton will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or owners to book a slot for the valuation to happen. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Skipton will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in West Hendon.

My sealed bid on a property in West Hendon has been accepted, the sellers do however have an associated purchase. The vendors have put an offer on on an apartment, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in West Hendon. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Kent Reliance?

It is normal to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, West Hendon conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must ensure that your conveyancer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Regarding the next steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market some purchasers will apply for a home loan with Kent Reliance and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in West Hendon.

Me and my brother have a semi-detached Georgian property in West Hendon. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and HSBC Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in West Hendon and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.

I'm purchasing a new build house in West Hendon with a loan from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my conveyancer about the extras as it may impact my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in West Hendon which have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in West Hendon is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. For most purchasers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 premises 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 a residence 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 West Hendon 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 any new 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.

I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in West Hendon. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a West Hendon conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Hendon flat is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 71 years.