Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill:

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Top Five Questions relating to Childs Hill leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Childs Hill - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Childs Hill. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the building.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • 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
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Childs Hill please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Childs Hill

    • I work for a busy estate agency in Childs Hill where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Childs Hill conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

    Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Childs Hill state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Childs Hill home move. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • We expect to complete our sale of a £150000 apartment in Childs Hill next Monday . The managing agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Childs Hill?

    Childs Hill conveyancing on leasehold flats often involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    I am the leaseholder of a basement flat in Childs Hill. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

    if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Childs Hill residence is Flat A 372 Cricklewood Lane in January 2013. The Tribunal decided that the premium for the extended lease should be £5,750.00 and that the terms of the new lease should be those set out in annex to the decsion This case was in relation to 1 flat.