Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate:

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Leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate 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 New Southgate and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate

I want to rent out my leasehold flat in New Southgate. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your previous New Southgate conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a leasehold property in New Southgate. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate should include some of the following:

  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or working from home
  • 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
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in New Southgate please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in New Southgate

    • Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in New Southgate.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? New Southgate leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
  • A minority of New Southgate leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a New Southgate conveyancing firm to assist?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a New Southgate property is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 70.31 years.

    In relation to leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate what are the most frequent lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in New Southgate. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in New Southgate