Due to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Kingston Vale. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Defining your rights in relation to common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?
• 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.
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Kingston Vale. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 be sure 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 reputable estate agent office in Kingston Vale where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Kingston Vale conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kingston Vale with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kingston Vale can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Kingston Vale leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
• A minority of Kingston Vale leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to 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 yearly 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.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 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 better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Kingston Vale home move. Where a new share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

I inherited a two-bedroom flat in Kingston Vale. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for a lease extension?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to assess the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Kingston Vale premises is 19 St. Margarets Crescent in August 2010. the tribunal was of the view that the premium to be paid by the leaseholder for the freehold reversion was £51,983.00 This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired lease term was 66.25 years.

What are the common defects that you see in leases for Kingston Vale properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Kingston Vale. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• 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 may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Kingston Vale Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

You should be aware if it is fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. For most Kingston Valelease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension. The answer will be helpful as a) areas could result in problems in the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to know about it