Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Shepherd's Bush leasehold conveyancing

I only have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Shepherd's Bush. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Shepherd's Bush.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Shepherd's Bush. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush should include some of the following:

  • The physical extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but may include a roof space or cellar if applicable.
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Shepherd's Bush please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush

    • I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Shepherd's Bush.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

    The sensible thing to do is clear the invoice 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • Many landlords or managing agents in Shepherd's Bush levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Shepherd's Bush leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Shepherd's Bush home move. Where a new share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • I am the registered owner of a two-bedroom flat in Shepherd's Bush. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for a lease extension?

    Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Shepherd's Bush flat is 82 Minford Gardens in February 2009. The Tribunal determined that the enfranchisement price was £37,341 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72.92 years.

    What makes a Shepherd's Bush lease defective?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Shepherd's Bush. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Chelsea Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Shepherd's Bush