Leasehold Conveyancing in Beckenham - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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

Recently asked questions relating to Beckenham leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Beckenham. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Beckenham - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Expecting to exchange soon on a garden flat in Beckenham. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Beckenham please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Beckenham

    • I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Beckenham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

    It best that you clear the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Beckenham where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Beckenham conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 kick-start 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    Alternatively, it may be possible 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Beckenham from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Beckenham can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Beckenham levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Beckenham.
  • A minority of Beckenham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should 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 yearly 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 there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Beckenham conveyancing deal. Where a new share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Having spent years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Beckenham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the price payable.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Beckenham property is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76.75 and 88.83.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Beckenham