Sample questions relating to Pratt's Bottom leasehold conveyancing
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Pratt's Bottom. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Pratt's Bottom - 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.
My partner and I may need to sub-let our Pratt's Bottom garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?
A lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Pratt's Bottom do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.
There are only 72 years left on my flat in Pratt's Bottom. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?
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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Pratt's Bottom.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Pratt's Bottom. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
In a situation 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 be sure 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).
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Pratt's Bottom where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate 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 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.
Following years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Pratt's Bottom. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Pratt's Bottom 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 unexpired lease term was 50.57 years.
Other Topics