Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in De Beauvoir Town. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in De Beauvoir Town please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in De Beauvoir Town.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 own a leasehold house in De Beauvoir Town. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in De Beauvoir Town who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in De Beauvoir Town state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing transaction. Where a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £325000 garden flat in De Beauvoir Town in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in De Beauvoir Town?

De Beauvoir Town conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times results in administration charges levied by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in De Beauvoir Town
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for De Beauvoir Town leasehold premises is £350. For De Beauvoir Town conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing firm to represent me?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a De Beauvoir Town property is 5C Stoke Newington Road in April 2010. the Tribunal therefore concludes that the premium to be paid for the extended lease is £700.00 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 80.5 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in De Beauvoir Town