Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Primrose Hill:

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

Primrose Hill leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I only have 62 years remaining on my flat in Primrose Hill. I need to extend my lease 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 apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Primrose Hill.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Primrose Hill. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Primrose Hill should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • The physical extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or working from home
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Primrose Hill please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Primrose Hill

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Primrose Hill. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    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. Strange as it may seem, 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).

    I work for a long established estate agent office in Primrose Hill where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Primrose Hill conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having 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 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 buyer.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Primrose Hill with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Primrose Hill can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Primrose Hill levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Primrose Hill.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Primrose Hill state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • A minority of Primrose Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Primrose Hill conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Primrose Hill conveyancing firm to represent me?

    You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Primrose Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Primrose Hill premises is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 64.77 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Primrose Hill