Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park:

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

Questions and Answers: Merton Park leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Merton Park. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If 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 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 track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Merton Park.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Merton Park. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Merton Park ?

Most houses in Merton Park are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Merton Park in which case you should be looking for a Merton Park conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As 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 carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Merton Park. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Merton Park who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Merton Park conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Merton Park levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Merton Park state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
  • Some Merton Park leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 solicitors.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Merton Park conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £225000 flat in Merton Park in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Merton Park?

    Merton Park conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Merton Park. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Merton Park flat is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 62.94 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Merton Park