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Leasehold conveyancing in Harold Park is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Harold Park and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Recently asked questions relating to Harold Park leasehold conveyancing

I would like to let out my leasehold flat in Harold Park. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Harold Park do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

There are only 72 years left on my flat in Harold Park. I now want to extend my lease 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Harold Park.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Harold Park which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Harold Park is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Harold Park conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Harold Park from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harold Park can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Harold Park state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
  • Some Harold Park leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Harold Park conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Harold Park. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Harold Park property is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 57.5 years.

    What makes a Harold Park lease defective?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Harold Park. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Harold Park