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St Giles leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our St Giles 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a St Giles conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in St Giles 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 permission.

Due to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in St Giles. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Giles should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in St Giles please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in St Giles

    • I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in St Giles. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in St Giles ?

    The majority of houses in St Giles are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in St Giles so you should seriously consider looking for a St Giles conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

    I am looking at a two maisonettes in St Giles both have about fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in St Giles is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 a residence 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 St Giles 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Giles with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Giles can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or managing agents in St Giles charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Giles.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? St Giles leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in St Giles. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

    Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a St Giles flat is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 66.8 years.