Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak:

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Sample questions relating to Honor Oak leasehold conveyancing

Expecting to complete next month on a studio apartment in Honor Oak. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or working from home
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Honor Oak please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Honor Oak

    • I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Honor Oak which have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

    There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Honor Oak is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 Honor Oak conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 the agreed 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.

    I work for a busy estate agency in Honor Oak where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Honor Oak conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

    Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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.

    What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Honor Oak conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Honor Oak conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Honor Oak conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

    • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Honor Oak state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • A minority of Honor Oak leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 lawyers.
  • If there is a history of 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 concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Honor Oak home move. If a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

    • After months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Honor Oak. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Honor Oak flat is Flat 1 40-42 Ewelme Road in August 2012. the Tribunal assessed the premium for the lease extension in the sum of £11,800 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 61.81 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Honor Oak