Questions and Answers: Putney leasehold conveyancing
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Putney. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is registered - and most 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.
There are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Putney. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Putney.
I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Putney.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Putney. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Putney who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Putney conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Putney both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Putney is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Putney conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
After months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Putney. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to calculate the price.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Putney property 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.
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