Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Crews Hill

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Questions and Answers: Crews Hill leasehold conveyancing

Expecting to complete next month on a studio apartment in Crews Hill. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but may incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Crews Hill please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Crews Hill

    • Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold house in Crews Hill. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Crews Hill who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

    First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Crews Hill conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Crews Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

    In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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).

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Crews Hill with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crews Hill can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Crews Hill levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crews Hill.
  • A minority of Crews Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Crews Hill conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach 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 advisable verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Crews Hill. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for a lease extension?

    Where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the amount due.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Crews Hill premises is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 70.31 years.

    What makes a Crews Hill lease defective?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Crews Hill is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • Insurance obligations
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.