Sample questions relating to Abbey Wood leasehold conveyancing
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Abbey Wood. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Abbey Wood - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Abbey Wood ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Abbey Wood conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
A small minority of properties in Abbey Wood do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.
I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Abbey Wood.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
The sensible thing to do is pay 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 management companies 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 property in Abbey Wood. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).
All being well we will complete our sale of a £450000 flat in Abbey Wood on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Abbey Wood?
Abbey Wood conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.
After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Abbey Wood. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Abbey Wood conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Abbey Wood flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.
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