Questions and Answers: Havering-atte-Bower leasehold conveyancing
There are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Havering-atte-Bower. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Havering-atte-Bower.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Havering-atte-Bower. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Havering-atte-Bower who acted for me is not around.What should I do?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Havering-atte-Bower conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Havering-atte-Bower. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 be sure 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).
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Havering-atte-Bower from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Havering-atte-Bower can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
- The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Havering-atte-Bower levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Havering-atte-Bower.
Completion in due on the sale of our £175000 apartment in Havering-atte-Bower in six days. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Havering-atte-Bower?
For most leasehold sales in Havering-atte-Bower conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
- Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Havering-atte-Bower
- Copies of the building insurance and schedule
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I am the leaseholder of a two-bedroom flat in Havering-atte-Bower. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Havering-atte-Bower conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Havering-atte-Bower flat 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 unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.