Barbican leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Barbican. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.
If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Barbican - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Barbican both have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Barbican is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Barbican conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Barbican where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Barbican conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, 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 buyer.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Barbican from the perspective of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barbican can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
- If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Barbican leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
Completion in due on our sale of a £375000 flat in Barbican next week. The freeholder has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Barbican?
Barbican conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves administration charges levied by landlords agents :
- Addressing pre-exchange questions
- Where consent is required before sale in Barbican
- Copies of the building insurance and schedule
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Barbican. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Barbican conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barbican flat 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 related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72.39 years.
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