I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Barking. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Barking - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Barking. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Barking who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Barking conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Barking where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Barking conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 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 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Barking with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Barking can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Barking state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Barking conveyancing transaction. If a new share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £225000 maisonette in Barking in seven days. The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Barking?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Barking conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Barking
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Barking leasehold property is £350. For Barking conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide the information.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Barking conveyancing firm to help?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Barking conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Barking premises 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 affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 65.5 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Barking