Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Shadwell:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Shadwell, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, RBS or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Shadwell conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Shadwell leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Shadwell. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Shadwell - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Shadwell ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Shadwell conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Shadwell do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Shadwell.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Shadwell from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shadwell can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Shadwell leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Shadwell conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Completion in due on the sale of our £225000 garden flat in Shadwell on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Shadwell?

    Shadwell conveyancing on leasehold flats often involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries most will be content to assist. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    After years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Shadwell. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    if there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to calculate the price payable.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Shadwell premises is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case affected 3 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 101.61 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Shadwell