Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Grove Park:

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Common questions relating to Grove Park leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Grove Park. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Grove Park.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Grove Park. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Grove Park please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Grove Park

    • I am attracted to a two apartments in Grove Park which have about forty five years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

    There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Grove Park is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Grove Park conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

    I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Grove Park. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Grove Park with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Grove Park can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Grove Park leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • Some Grove Park leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Grove Park home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • Having spent months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Grove Park. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Grove Park premises is 49 Woodstock Court Burnt Ash Hill in May 2012. the payment of £64,116 by the leaseholder was the premium which the Tribunal found due for the lease extension in this case. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 23.26 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Grove Park