Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Mottingham:

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Questions and Answers: Mottingham leasehold conveyancing

I own a leasehold house in Mottingham. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Mottingham who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Mottingham conveyancing practitioner 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.

I am looking at a two apartments in Mottingham which have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Mottingham. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. 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 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).

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Mottingham where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Mottingham conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have 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 simultaneously with 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Mottingham from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Mottingham can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Mottingham charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Mottingham.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Mottingham state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • A minority of Mottingham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

    • I own a a ground floor purpose built flat in Mottingham. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for a lease extension?

    You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Mottingham conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Mottingham flat is 49 Woodstock Court Burnt Ash Hill in May 2012. the payment of £64,116 by the leaseholder was the premium which the Tribunal found due for the lease extension in this case. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 23.26 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Mottingham