Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Kensington

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Top Five Questions relating to Kensington leasehold conveyancing

My partner and I may need to rent out our Kensington basement flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Kensington conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Kensington conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Kensington. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Kensington 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 rights in respect of common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Kensington please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Kensington

    • I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Kensington where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Kensington conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 disposal of the property.

    Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kensington from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kensington can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Kensington leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
  • A minority of Kensington leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should 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 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 there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £400000 garden flat in Kensington next week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Kensington?

    Kensington conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

    I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Kensington. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

    if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Kensington residence is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 37.79 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Kensington