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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Chinatown conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Chinatown leasehold conveyancing

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

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Chinatown - 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.

I want to let out my leasehold flat in Chinatown. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Chinatown conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Chinatown. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Chinatown.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Chinatown. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • 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.
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Chinatown please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Chinatown

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown can be bypassed if you get in touch 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 purchasers’ solicitors.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Chinatown leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Chinatown conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Chinatown conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

    You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Chinatown conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Chinatown flat is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 73.92 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Chinatown