Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown:

Get a Quote

Require a conveyancing quote from a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown on your lender’s panel? Make use of our search tool to find approved local Chinatown conveyancing lawyers or national solicitors on your lender’s panel .

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown. Before I set the wheels in motion 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 Chinatown - 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 have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my lease in Chinatown. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Chinatown.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Chinatown.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Chinatown where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Chinatown conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 buyer 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 prior to, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Chinatown levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Chinatown state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Chinatown conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in Chinatown. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

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

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

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Chinatown