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Leasehold conveyancing in Morden Park is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Morden Park and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Questions and Answers: Morden Park leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Morden Park. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Morden Park - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Morden Park. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful 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 conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Morden Park.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Morden Park. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Morden Park ?

Most houses in Morden Park are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Morden Park in which case you should be shopping around for a Morden Park conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’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 will advise you fully on all the issues.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Morden Park. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Morden Park from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Morden Park can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in Morden Park levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Morden Park.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Morden Park state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Morden Park conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Morden Park conveyancing firm to assist?

    Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Morden Park conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Morden Park flat is 33 The Maisonettes Alberta Avenue in June 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of a new lease be the sum of £20,680 (Twenty Thousand six hundred and eighty pounds). This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.43 years.