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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Little Ilford, you will need to chose a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or NatWest be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Little Ilford conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Little Ilford leasehold conveyancing

I would like to rent out my leasehold apartment in Little Ilford. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Little Ilford conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Little Ilford.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Little Ilford. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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 am employed by a reputable estate agency in Little Ilford where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Little Ilford conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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 can avoid having to wait 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.

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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Little Ilford with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Little Ilford can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Little Ilford charge 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 can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Little Ilford.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Little Ilford leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • Some Little Ilford leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

    • My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Little Ilford. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Little Ilford conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Little Ilford residence is 9 Granville Road in June 2014. The tribunal determines the enfranchisement price payable by the applicants for the freehold was £32,548 This case related to 5 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.8 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Little Ilford