Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Orpington

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Orpington, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to Orpington leasehold conveyancing

My fiance and I may need to let out our Orpington garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Orpington conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Orpington conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Orpington. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the block.For example, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Orpington please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Orpington

    • I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Orpington.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    The sensible thing to do is pay 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 management companies 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.

    My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Orpington. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Orpington who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

    First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Orpington conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Orpington where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Orpington conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

    An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

    I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Orpington conveyancing firm to represent me?

    Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to determine the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Orpington residence is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 50.57 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Orpington