Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbury:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbury, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, RBS or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Kingsbury leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Kingsbury. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • The total extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but may include a roof space or basement if appropriate.
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Kingsbury please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Kingsbury

    • I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Kingsbury. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Kingsbury ?

    The majority of houses in Kingsbury are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Kingsbury in which case you should be looking for a Kingsbury conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

    I've recently bought a leasehold house in Kingsbury. Do I have any liability for 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. A critical element 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).

    I work for a busy estate agent office in Kingsbury where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Kingsbury conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    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.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbury with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbury can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Kingsbury charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbury.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Kingsbury state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Kingsbury home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore 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 property on the market for sale.

    • Following years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Kingsbury. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Kingsbury conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Kingsbury flat is 27B Hillside in February 2010. the resulting premium, all other aspects of the valuation having been agreed between the parties was set at £8,250 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 70.25 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Kingsbury