Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Kensal Green:

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

Top Five Questions relating to Kensal Green leasehold conveyancing

My fiance and I may need to rent out our Kensal Green basement flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Kensal Green conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Kensal Green conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Kensal Green. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Kensal Green.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Kensal Green. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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 ensure 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).

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Kensal Green conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Kensal Green conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Kensal Green conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kensal Green from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kensal Green can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Kensal Green leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • A minority of Kensal Green leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Kensal Green conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Kensal Green. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Kensal Green residence is 85A Chevening Road in August 2013. the Tribunals conclusions resulted in a payment of a premium for the new lease in the sum of £11,211 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 84.34 years.