Sample questions relating to Peckham leasehold conveyancing
I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Peckham. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Peckham - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my flat in Peckham. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Peckham.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Peckham both have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Peckham is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Peckham conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Peckham where we see a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Peckham conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 buyer 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 prior to, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.
If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £450000 apartment in Peckham next Thursday . The managing agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Peckham?
For the majority of leasehold sales in Peckham conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
- Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
- Where consent is required before sale in Peckham
- Copies of the building insurance and schedule
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Peckham conveyancing firm to help?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Peckham conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Peckham residence is 31 Kings Grove in January 2012. By a claim form issued on 11" August 2011 under action number 1LB01618 in the Lambeth County Court the applicant tenants sought dispensation under section 26 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 from the requirement to serve a notice under section 13 of that Act in order to purchase the freehold of the premises. The Tribunal decided the amount payable for the freehold as £10,728 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 80.5 years.
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