Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Brompton:

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Top Five Questions relating to Brompton leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Brompton. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Brompton - 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.

I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Brompton. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Notwithstanding that your last Brompton conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Brompton.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Brompton. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Brompton with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Brompton can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Brompton state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • Some Brompton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Brompton conveyancing transaction. Where a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

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

    if there is a missing freeholder or if 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 LVT to arrive at the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Brompton flat is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 13.33 years.