Planning to complete next month on a garden flat in Gunnersbury. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

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

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

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

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Gunnersbury please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Gunnersbury

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Gunnersbury which have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Gunnersbury. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Gunnersbury conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Gunnersbury conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Gunnersbury conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Gunnersbury in the last twenty four months?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Gunnersbury from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Gunnersbury can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Gunnersbury levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Gunnersbury.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Gunnersbury leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. If you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

Some Gunnersbury 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 bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £225000 flat in Gunnersbury in 8 days. The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Gunnersbury?

For most leasehold sales in Gunnersbury conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

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

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Gunnersbury leasehold premises is £350. For Gunnersbury 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 obliged to supply the information.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Gunnersbury. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Gunnersbury flat is 169 Southfield Road in September 2013. the tribunal decided that the premium to be paid in respect of the collective enfranchisement should be £51,203 This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 64.64 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Gunnersbury