Recently asked questions relating to Edgware leasehold conveyancing
I have recently realised that I have Seventy years left on my lease in Edgware. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Edgware.
I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Edgware.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 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 own a leasehold house in Edgware. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Edgware who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?
First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Edgware conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Edgware where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Edgware conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 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 agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
All being well we will complete our sale of a £125000 apartment in Edgware in seven days. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Edgware?
Edgware conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.
Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Edgware. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Edgware conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Edgware premises is Ground Floor Maisonette 17 Milton Road in January 2014. The Tribunal determined the premium payable by the Applicant to the should be £13,299 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 71.73 years.
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