Questions and Answers: Rayners Lane leasehold conveyancing
I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in Rayners Lane. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?
Your lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Rayners Lane do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my lease in Rayners Lane. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?
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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Rayners Lane.
I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Rayners Lane.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is 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 managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I am looking at a couple of apartments in Rayners Lane which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are plenty of short leases in Rayners Lane. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Rayners Lane where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Rayners Lane conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
I have had difficulty in negotiating a lease extension in Rayners Lane. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Rayners Lane conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Rayners Lane flat 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 79 years.
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