Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater:

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Top Five Questions relating to Bayswater leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Bayswater garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Bayswater conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance 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 leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Bayswater do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a garden flat in Bayswater. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or working from home
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Bayswater please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Bayswater

    • I work for a busy estate agent office in Bayswater where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Bayswater conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

    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. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

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

    When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bayswater conveyancing practice) 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 Bayswater conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

    • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Bayswater levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Bayswater leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
  • Some Bayswater leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

    • I inherited a two-bedroom flat in Bayswater. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

    in cases where there is a missing landlord or if 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 judgment on the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bayswater flat is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 37.79 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bayswater