Recently asked questions relating to Ruislip leasehold conveyancing
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Ruislip. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Ruislip - 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.
I am looking at a two maisonettes in Ruislip which have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are plenty of short leases in Ruislip. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field
I've recently bought a leasehold house in Ruislip. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 busy estate agent office in Ruislip where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Ruislip conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. 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 prior to, or at the same time as 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.
We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 200000 flat in Ruislip next Monday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Ruislip?
Ruislip conveyancing on leasehold flats usually involves administration charges levied by managing agents :
- Completing pre-contract enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Ruislip
- Supplying insurance information
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I have had difficulty in seeking a lease extension in Ruislip. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Ruislip premises is Flat 72 Queens Walk in January 2013. The Tribunals calculated the premium payable to be £22,090. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 53.26 years.
I inherited a studio flat in Ruislip, conveyancing formalities finalised 10 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Ruislip with an extended lease are worth £191,000. The ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2082
With just 56 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £28,500 and £33,000 plus costs.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.