Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Hayes:

Leasehold conveyancing in Hayes 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 Hayes and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Sample questions relating to Hayes leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Hayes. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Hayes - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Hayes.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 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 hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Hayes. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Hayes ?

The majority of houses in Hayes are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Hayes so you should seriously consider looking for a Hayes conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Hayes where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hayes conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

We expect to complete the sale of our £225000 garden flat in Hayes next week. The management company has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hayes?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Hayes 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 Hayes
  • Supplying insurance information
  • Deeds of covenant upon sale
  • Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Hayes leasehold property is £350. For Hayes conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

Having spent years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hayes. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Hayes conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hayes property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.