Top Five Questions relating to Hampstead leasehold conveyancing
I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Hampstead - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Expecting to complete next month on a basement flat in Hampstead. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead should include some of the following:
- Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Hampstead.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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.
Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold house in Hampstead. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Hampstead who acted for me is not around.What should I do?
First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Hampstead conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. 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 reputable estate agent office in Hampstead where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Hampstead conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.
We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in Hampstead. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Hampstead conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hampstead premises is Raised Ground Floor Flat 20 Fitzjohns Avenue in July 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premiums to be paid for new leases in respect of the Raised Ground Floor Flat and the First Floor Flat were to be calculated as: Raised Ground Floor: £765,175.14 First Floor: £601,617.77 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 16.83 and 16.43.
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