Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Sample questions relating to Colney Hatch leasehold conveyancing

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Colney Hatch.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Colney Hatch. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Colney Hatch ?

The majority of houses in Colney Hatch are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Colney Hatch in which case you should be shopping around for a Colney Hatch conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Colney Hatch conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Colney Hatch conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Colney Hatch conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

  • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Colney Hatch charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch.
  • A minority of Colney Hatch leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Colney Hatch home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore 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 property on the market for sale.

    • We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Colney Hatch. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Colney Hatch residence is 90 & 96 Poplar Grove in June 2013. It was held by the Tribunal that the premium to be paid for the new lease in respect of each of the flats referred should be £17,942 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 68 years.

    What are the frequently found deficiencies that you witness in leases for Colney Hatch properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Colney Hatch is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Barnsley Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Colney Hatch