Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen:

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

North Sheen leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I only have 72 years unexpired on my lease in North Sheen. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing North Sheen.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in North Sheen which have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold property in North Sheen. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 ensure 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).

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a North Sheen conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a North Sheen conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non North Sheen conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • How many lease extensions has the firm completed in North Sheen in the last twenty four months?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in North Sheen charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for 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 usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen.
  • Some North Sheen 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a North Sheen conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • After years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in North Sheen. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a North Sheen residence is Flat 1 30 Ennismore Avenue in September 2010. the Tribunal adopted and arrived at a premium for the lease extension of £29, 900 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 68.34 years.