Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Battersea:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Battersea, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Battersea conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Battersea leasehold conveyancing

Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Battersea ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Battersea conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Battersea do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Battersea which have in the region of fifty years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Battersea. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Battersea conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Battersea conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Battersea conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

  • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Battersea from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Battersea can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Battersea charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Battersea.
  • A minority of Battersea leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Battersea conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • We expect to complete our sale of a £325000 garden flat in Battersea in 8 days. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Battersea?

    Battersea conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the buyer’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be content to do so. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Battersea. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Battersea flat is 150A Albert Palace Mansions Lurline Gardens in July 2013. The Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the new lease of the subject property was £42,069 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 57.06 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Battersea