Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in High Holborn

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in High Holborn, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a High Holborn conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to High Holborn leasehold conveyancing

I only have 62 years remaining on my flat in High Holborn. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering High Holborn.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold flat in High Holborn. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in High Holborn who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a High Holborn conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in High Holborn. 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 lessee 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. 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 provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in High Holborn with the intention of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in High Holborn can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in High Holborn levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in High Holborn.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in High Holborn state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a High Holborn conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Having spent months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in High Holborn. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a High Holborn residence is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 66.8 years.

    In relation to leasehold conveyancing in High Holborn what are the most common lease defects?

    Leasehold conveyancing in High Holborn is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You will have 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. Nationwide Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in High Holborn