Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Rayners Lane

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Rayners Lane, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Frequently asked questions relating to Rayners Lane leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Rayners Lane 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Rayners Lane conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Rayners Lane conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Rayners Lane.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

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 until 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.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Rayners Lane where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Rayners Lane conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Rayners Lane conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Rayners Lane conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Rayners Lane conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • What volume of lease extensions has the firm carried out in Rayners Lane in the last year?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Rayners Lane from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rayners Lane can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • 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 Rayners Lane state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • Some Rayners Lane 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. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Having spent months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Rayners Lane. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Rayners Lane conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Rayners Lane residence is GFF 1 Holyrood Avenue in May 2014. The Tenant wished to acquire a new (extended) lease and applied to the Willesden County Court who granted a vesting order on 20* March2013. The Tribunal decied that the premium to be paid was £9,062 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 79 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Rayners Lane