Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside:

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Common questions relating to Barkingside leasehold conveyancing

I am intending to let out my leasehold flat in Barkingside. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

A lease governs relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Barkingside do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Barkingside. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage went though with no issue. 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 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Barkingside who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Barkingside conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Barkingside. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 work for a busy estate agency in Barkingside where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Barkingside conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 Barkingside from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
  • Many landlords or managing agents in Barkingside charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information 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 frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Barkingside leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • Some Barkingside leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 solicitors.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Barkingside home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Barkingside. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Barkingside property is 104 Coventry Road in July 2014. The Tribunal determined that the lease extension permium should be £22,896.15 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 60.29 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Barkingside