Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath:

Get a Quote

Looking for a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath on your lender’s panel? Make use of our search tool to find quality local Bexleyheath conveyancing practitioners or national solicitors on your lender’s panel .

Top Five Questions relating to Bexleyheath leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Bexleyheath. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Bexleyheath.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Bexleyheath. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Bexleyheath please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Bexleyheath

    • What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Bexleyheath conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bexleyheath conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Bexleyheath conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

    • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Bexleyheath levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought 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 frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Bexleyheath conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

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

    if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bexleyheath residence is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.

    What are the frequently found problems that you encounter in leases for Bexleyheath properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses 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 premises
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bexleyheath