Planning to exchange soon on a basement flat in Kensington. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. 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:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

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

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Kensington please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Kensington

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Kensington where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Kensington conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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. The benefit of this is 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Kensington conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Kensington conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Kensington 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 useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kensington with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kensington can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Kensington levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kensington.

If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Kensington leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.

A minority of Kensington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £125000 flat in Kensington on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Kensington?

For most leasehold sales in Kensington conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Kensington
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Kensington leasehold property is £350. For Kensington conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply answers.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Kensington. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a absentee landlord or where 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 assess the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Kensington premises 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 the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 37.79 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Kensington