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Common questions relating to Alperton leasehold conveyancing

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Alperton. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Alperton should include some of the following:

  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • The physical extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but could also include a loft or basement if appropriate.
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • 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
  • What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Alperton please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Alperton

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Alperton. 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. 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).

    What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Alperton conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Alperton conveyancing firm) 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 talk with two or three firms including non Alperton 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:

    • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Alperton from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Alperton can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • Many freeholders or managing agents in Alperton levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Alperton.
  • A minority of Alperton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 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.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £175000 garden flat in Alperton on Monday in a week. The management company has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Alperton?

    Alperton conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Alperton. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Alperton conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Alperton flat is 99 Connell Crescent in May 2013. the Tribunal held that the relevant sum for the purposes of the lease extension should be £72,566 to be paid by the leaseholder This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 28.42 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Alperton