Leamouth leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my flat in Leamouth. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Leamouth.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Leamouth. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 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 Leamouth where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Leamouth conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start 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 needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth from the point of view of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
- In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Leamouth leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for 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 lawyer first.
If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £500000 apartment in Leamouth in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Leamouth?
Leamouth conveyancing on leasehold flats normally results in administration charges invoiced by landlords agents :
- Completing pre-exchange enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Leamouth
- Copies of the building insurance and schedule
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I have had difficulty in negotiating a lease extension in Leamouth. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Leamouth property is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69.77 years.