Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Plumstead:

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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
  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • 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.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Plumstead please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Plumstead

    • 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.
  • A minority of Plumstead leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Plumstead home move. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

    • 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.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Plumstead