Recently asked questions relating to Marylebone leasehold conveyancing
I only have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Marylebone. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Marylebone.
Due to complete next month on a basement flat in Marylebone. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Marylebone should include some of the following:
- Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
I am looking at a couple of flats in Marylebone which have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Marylebone is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Marylebone conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I work for a long established estate agent office in Marylebone where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Marylebone conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as 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. The benefit of this is 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.
What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Marylebone conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?
When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Marylebone conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Marylebone conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:
- How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Marylebone. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Marylebone conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Marylebone residence is Flats 37 & 39 88/90 Portland Place in December 2010. The Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the lease extensions in respect of these two flats is as follows:- For Flat 37, the sum of £385,230.00 For Flat 39, the sum of £436,780.00 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 24.02 years.
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