Frequently asked questions relating to Dalston leasehold conveyancing
I only have Fifty years left on my flat in Dalston. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Dalston.
Planning to exchange soon on a garden flat in Dalston. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Dalston should include some of the following:
- 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
I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Dalston. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?
The majority of houses in Dalston are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Dalston so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Dalston conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.
I am looking at a two apartments in Dalston which have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There are plenty of short leases in Dalston. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena
I work for a long established estate agency in Dalston where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Dalston conveyancing firms. Could you confirm 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is 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.
After years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Dalston. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a missing freeholder 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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Dalston premises is 150 Amhurst Road in December 2013. The tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the applicant for the enfranchisement of the subject property was £43,500. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The unexpired term was 90 (or thereabouts).
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