Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Mill Hill

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Questions and Answers: Mill Hill leasehold conveyancing

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

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Mill Hill please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Mill Hill

    • I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Mill Hill.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    The sensible thing to do is pay 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 unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I am looking at a couple of apartments in Mill Hill both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

    Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Mill Hill. Do I have any liability for 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 lessee 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. A critical element 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).

    Following months of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Mill Hill. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    if there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Mill Hill flat is Ground Floor Maisonette 17 Milton Road in January 2014. The Tribunal determined the premium payable by the Applicant to the should be £13,299 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 71.73 years.

    What makes a Mill Hill lease defective?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Mill Hill