Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in East London

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in East London, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

East London leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in East London. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in East London should include some of the following:

  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in East London please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in East London

    • Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in East London.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I've recently bought a leasehold house in East London. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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).

    Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a East London conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a East London conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non East London conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in East London in the last year?
  • What are the charges for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in East London from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in East London can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? East London leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
  • A minority of East London leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a East London conveyancing firm to assist?

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

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a East London property 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 the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.26 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in East London