Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Barking
There are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Barking. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Barking.
Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Barking. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Barking should include some of the following:
- The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
I today plan to offer on a house that seems to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Barking. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Barking ?
The majority of houses in Barking are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Barking so you should seriously consider looking for a Barking conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.
Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold flat in Barking. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Barking who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Barking conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Barking where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Barking conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is 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.
I am the leaseholder of a two-bedroom flat in Barking. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Barking conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barking property is 240 Strone Road in January 2014. the tribunal held that the price to be paid for the freehold interest was£23,538 of which£13,017 is attributable to the ground floor flat and £10,521 to the first floor flat. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 65.5 years.
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