I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Hornchurch. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Hornchurch - 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.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our Hornchurch basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Hornchurch conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Hornchurch do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I am hoping to complete next month on a leasehold property in Hornchurch. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in Hornchurch. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Hornchurch who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Hornchurch conveyancing firm 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Hornchurch where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Hornchurch conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

I am the leaseholder of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Hornchurch. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hornchurch premises 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 57.5 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hornchurch