Leasehold Conveyancing in Hadley Wood - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Hadley Wood, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, RBS or NatWest be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Hadley Wood conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Hadley Wood leasehold conveyancing

I only have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Hadley Wood. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. 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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Hadley Wood.

Expecting to complete next month on a leasehold property in Hadley Wood. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Setting out your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • 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 For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Hadley Wood please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Hadley Wood

    • I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Hadley Wood.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

    It best that you clear the service charge 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Hadley Wood conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

    When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hadley Wood conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Hadley Wood conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Hadley Wood who can give a testimonial?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hadley Wood with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hadley Wood can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Hadley Wood state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • Some Hadley Wood leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 rather than unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hadley Wood. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Hadley Wood premises is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hadley Wood