Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Blackheath

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Blackheath leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Blackheath. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Blackheath.

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Blackheath. Conveyancing lawyers inform 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?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Blackheath should include some of the following:

  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Blackheath please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Blackheath

    • I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Blackheath.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Blackheath where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Blackheath conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to 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 owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    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 buyer.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Blackheath conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

    When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Blackheath conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Blackheath conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

    • How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

    • After years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Blackheath. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Blackheath premises is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Blackheath