Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Harrow on the Hill

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Harrow on the Hill, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, RBS or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Harrow on the Hill leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my lease in Harrow on the Hill. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Harrow on the Hill.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Harrow on the Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Harrow on the Hill where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Harrow on the Hill conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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. 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 needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Harrow on the Hill conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Harrow on the Hill conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Harrow on the Hill 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 helpful:

  • How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Harrow on the Hill in the last 12 months?

    • Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Harrow on the Hill with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Harrow on the Hill can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Harrow on the Hill charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harrow on the Hill.
  • A minority of Harrow on the Hill leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing 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 settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 historic rather than unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Harrow on the Hill. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for a lease extension?

    Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Harrow on the Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Harrow on the Hill flat is flat 93b Welldon Crescent in May 2009. The Tribunals valuation for a 90-year lease extension of this fat was £13,171 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 75.25 years.