Due to exchange soon on a basement flat in Kilburn. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

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

The total extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or basement if applicable.

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Kilburn please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Kilburn

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Kilburn conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Kilburn conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Kilburn conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Kilburn levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Kilburn leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

A minority of Kilburn leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 lawyers.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £475000 apartment in Kilburn in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Kilburn?

For most leasehold sales in Kilburn 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 Kilburn
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Kilburn leasehold property is £350. For Kilburn 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 obliged to supply the information.

Having spent months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Kilburn. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Kilburn conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Kilburn residence is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 70.02 years.

Are there common problems that you encounter in leases for Kilburn properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Coventry Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Kilburn