Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Aldermanbury

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Recently asked questions relating to Aldermanbury leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Aldermanbury garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Aldermanbury conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Aldermanbury conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Aldermanbury. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Aldermanbury who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Aldermanbury conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Aldermanbury with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aldermanbury can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Aldermanbury levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aldermanbury.
  • Some Aldermanbury leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • We expect to complete our sale of a £375000 apartment in Aldermanbury on Friday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Aldermanbury?

    Aldermanbury conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy 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 over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

    I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Aldermanbury conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

    Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Aldermanbury conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Aldermanbury residence is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.39 years.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Aldermanbury what are the most common lease problems?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Aldermanbury is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Aldermanbury