Leasehold Conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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Recently asked questions relating to Hampstead Garden Suburb leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my lease in Hampstead Garden Suburb. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • The total extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but might include a loft or cellar if appropriate.
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • 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 property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • 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 For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Hampstead Garden Suburb please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb

    • I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Hampstead Garden Suburb.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

    The sensible thing to do is 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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Hampstead Garden Suburb where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having 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.

    Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Hampstead Garden Suburb charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb.
  • Some Hampstead Garden Suburb 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. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • My wife and I have hit a brick wall in seeking a lease extension in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hampstead Garden Suburb flat is FFF, 37 and Garage 1, Queensborough Court North Circular Road in September 2012. The Tribunal determined that the premium for the lease extension should be £67,037 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 23.66 years.