Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in East London
I am hoping to exchange soon on a leasehold property in East London. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in East London should include some of the following:
- You should be sent a copy of the lease
I've found a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in East London. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?
Most houses in East London are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in East London in which case you should be shopping around for a East London conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in East London. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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 employed by a long established estate agent office in East London where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local East London conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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.
What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a East London conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?
When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a East London conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non East London conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:
- If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
After years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in East London. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the amount due.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a East London premises 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 remaining number of years on the lease was 73.26 years.
Other Topics