Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill, you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Notting Hill conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Notting Hill leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Notting Hill. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A small minority of properties in Notting Hill do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Due to complete next month on a leasehold property in Notting Hill. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • The total extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but may include a loft or basement if appropriate.
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or working from home
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • 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
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Notting Hill please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Notting Hill

    • I work for a reputable estate agent office in Notting Hill where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Notting Hill conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process 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 can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in Notting Hill levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Notting Hill state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • A minority of Notting Hill leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents 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 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Notting Hill home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Notting Hill conveyancing firm to help?

    Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Notting Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Notting Hill property is 2 Grove House 95 Addison Road in October 2013. the Tribunal decided that the premium to bepaid for a new lease is £50,050. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 68.4 years.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill what are the most common lease defects?

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

    • Repairing obligations 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

    You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Notting Hill