Leasehold Conveyancing in Barbican - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

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

Barbican leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Barbican.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge 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 managing agents 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 today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Barbican. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Barbican ?

The majority of houses in Barbican are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Barbican in which case you should be shopping around for a Barbican conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Barbican with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barbican can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Barbican charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Barbican.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Barbican state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • Some Barbican 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 bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes 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 concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £200000 garden flat in Barbican in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Barbican?

    Barbican conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions 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 exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    After months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Barbican. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barbican property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.39 years.

    What are the frequently found problems that you encounter in leases for Barbican properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Barbican is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
    • 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

    You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Barbican