Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont, you will need to chose a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Recently asked questions relating to Bedfont leasehold conveyancing

Looking forward to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Bedfont. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report 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 receive a copy of the lease
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? 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

    • I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Bedfont.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

    The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Bedfont. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Bedfont who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Bedfont conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Bedfont where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Bedfont conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in Bedfont levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bedfont.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Bedfont state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • A minority of Bedfont leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The 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 solicitors.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Following years of dialogue we cannot 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?

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

    An example of a Lease Extension decision 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 affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 82.93 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bedfont