Plumstead leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
There are only 68 years remaining on my lease in Plumstead. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?
If 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 extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Plumstead.
Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Plumstead. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Plumstead should include some of the following:
- You should be sent a copy of the lease
Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Plumstead. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Plumstead who acted for me is not around.What should I do?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Plumstead conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Plumstead. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Plumstead with the purpose of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Plumstead can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
- In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Plumstead state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you dont have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
Following years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Plumstead. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Plumstead conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Plumstead property is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case related to 1 flat.
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