Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont:

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Top Five Questions relating to Bedfont leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Bedfont. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or staircase?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • 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
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Bedfont please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Bedfont

    • My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Bedfont. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Bedfont who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

    The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Bedfont conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Bedfont. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

    Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

    If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

    I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Bedfont where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Bedfont conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    Provided that 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 to extend their lease. 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 buyer.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • Many landlords or managing agents in Bedfont charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Bedfont home move. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Having spent years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bedfont. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Bedfont residence is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 82.93 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bedfont