Common questions relating to Canary Wharf leasehold conveyancing
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Canary Wharf. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Canary Wharf - 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 would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Canary Wharf. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?
Notwithstanding that your previous Canary Wharf conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.
I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Canary Wharf.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?
The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 unless 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.
Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Canary Wharf. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).
I work for a busy estate agency in Canary Wharf where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Canary Wharf conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. This means 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 needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.
I inherited a second floor flat in Canary Wharf. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to calculate the sum to be paid.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Canary Wharf property is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case affected 3 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 101.61 years.
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