Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Putney:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Putney, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Putney leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Putney. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Putney - 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.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Putney. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Putney 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
  • Setting out your rights in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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. For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Putney please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Putney

    • I own a leasehold flat in Putney. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Putney who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Putney conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    I've recently bought a leasehold house in Putney. Do I have any liability for 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. 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 am employed by a long established estate agent office in Putney where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Putney conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 purchaser.

    I have had difficulty in seeking a lease extension in Putney. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the amount due.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Putney flat is 19 St. Margarets Crescent in August 2010. the tribunal was of the view that the premium to be paid by the leaseholder for the freehold reversion was £51,983.00 This case affected 3 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.25 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Putney