Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bankside:

Get a Quote

Whether you are buying or selling leasehold flat in Bankside, our panel of leasehold conveyancing experts will help you move with as little stress as possible. Find a Bankside conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to Bankside leasehold conveyancing

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Bankside. Am I liable to pay 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. Strange as it may seem, 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Bankside where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Bankside conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bankside with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bankside can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Bankside levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bankside.
  • Some Bankside leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Bankside home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £125000 garden flat in Bankside next week. The freeholder has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Bankside?

    Bankside conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    I have had difficulty in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Bankside. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Bankside residence is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case related to 41 flats. The unexpired lease term was 107 years.

    What are the common problems that you see in leases for Bankside properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Bankside is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are missing. 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
    • Insurance obligations
    • 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

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Virgin Money, and Clydesdale 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 provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.