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Top Five Questions relating to St Luke's leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in St Luke's - 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.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my flat in St Luke's. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering St Luke's.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in St Luke's.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in St Luke's charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a St Luke's conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • After years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Luke's. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Luke's conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Luke's premises is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.39 years.

    In relation to leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's what are the most frequent lease problems?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • 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

    You will encounter 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. Birmingham Midshires, Skipton Building Society, and TSB 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 problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in St Luke's