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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with 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

Questions and Answers: Bayswater leasehold conveyancing

I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Bayswater. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful 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 solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bayswater.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Bayswater. Do I have any liability for 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Bayswater conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bayswater conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Bayswater conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

  • How many lease extensions have they conducted in Bayswater in the last 12 months?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Bayswater who can give a testimonial?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater with the aim of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Bayswater charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bayswater.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Bayswater conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £150000 flat in Bayswater next week. The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Bayswater?

    Bayswater conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually requires the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    I am the proprietor of a second floor flat in Bayswater. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

    Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Bayswater conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bayswater property 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 the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 37.79 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bayswater