I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Bethnal Green. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Bethnal Green - 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.

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Bethnal Green ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Bethnal Green conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, 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 expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Bethnal Green do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Bethnal Green. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Bethnal Green.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Bethnal Green.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the service charge 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 management companies 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.

Having spent months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bethnal Green. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bethnal Green premises is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.39 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Bethnal Green what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bethnal Green is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bethnal Green