Recently asked questions relating to Southall leasehold conveyancing
Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our Southall ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Southall conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?
Even though your last Southall conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Southall. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order 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. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Southall.
I am hoping to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Southall. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Southall should include some of the following:
- Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Southall which have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Southall is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Southall conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
After months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Southall. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Southall premises is 33 Barbican Road in January 2013. The Tribunals calculation of the lease extension premium payable was £17,592. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 55.12 years.
What makes a Southall lease problematic?
Leasehold conveyancing in Southall is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
- A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
- Insurance obligations
- A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
- Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage
A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Skipton Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.
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