Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in South Wimbledon

Need to find a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in South Wimbledon on your lender’s panel? Use our search tool to find leading local South Wimbledon conveyancing lawyers or national solicitors on your lender’s panel .

South Wimbledon leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in South Wimbledon. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering South Wimbledon.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in South Wimbledon where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local South Wimbledon conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in South Wimbledon from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in South Wimbledon can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in South Wimbledon state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a South Wimbledon conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

  • Completion in due on the disposal of our £450000 flat in South Wimbledon next week. The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in South Wimbledon?

    South Wimbledon conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates fees being levied by management companies :

    • Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
    • Where consent is required before sale in South Wimbledon
    • Copies of the building insurance and schedule
    • Deeds of covenant upon sale
    • Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
    Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for South Wimbledon leasehold property is £350. For South Wimbledon conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply the information.

    I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in South Wimbledon. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

    if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a South Wimbledon flat is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 62.94 years.

    Are there frequently found defects that you encounter in leases for South Wimbledon properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in South Wimbledon. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.