Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Heston:

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Heston, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Heston leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

My husband and I may need to sub-let our Heston ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Heston conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Heston conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my flat in Heston. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Heston.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a basement flat in Heston. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Heston should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Defining your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
  • You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Heston please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Heston

    • Back In 2009, I bought a leasehold flat in Heston. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Heston who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

    First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Heston conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. 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.

    I work for a long established estate agency in Heston where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Heston conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner 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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

    Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

    After months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Heston. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Heston conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Heston property is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 60.45 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Heston