Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Hampden Pk. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Hampden Pk who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Hampden Pk conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Hampden Pk where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Hampden Pk conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hampden Pk with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hampden Pk can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Hampden Pk state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

A minority of Hampden Pk leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The 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 service charge figures 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 essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £350000 apartment in Hampden Pk on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hampden Pk?

Hampden Pk conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily results in fees being invoiced by management companies :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Hampden Pk
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Hampden Pk leasehold property is £350. For Hampden Pk conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Hampden Pk what are the most frequent lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Hampden Pk is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• 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 primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Mortgage Works, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Hampden Pk Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before buying

Make sure you find out if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Hampden Pk. If you like the flatin Hampden Pk however your dog can’t live with you then you have a very hard compromise. Who manages the building? Where a Hampden Pk lease has less than eighty years it will impact the value of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering how much this will be. For most Hampden Pklease extensions you will be required to have been the owner of the premises for a couple of years before you are legally able to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hampden Pk