Sample questions relating to Harmondsworth leasehold conveyancing
I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my lease in Harmondsworth. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Harmondsworth.
I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Harmondsworth.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I own a leasehold flat in Harmondsworth. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Harmondsworth who acted for me is not around.Any advice?
First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Harmondsworth conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Harmondsworth conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?
If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Harmondsworth conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Harmondsworth conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:
- If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Harmondsworth from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Harmondsworth can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
- The majority landlords or managing agents in Harmondsworth charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Harmondsworth.
Having spent years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harmondsworth. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the amount due.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Harmondsworth property is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 69 years.
Other Topics