Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in St Mary Cray:

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Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in St Mary Cray

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in St Mary Cray. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering St Mary Cray.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in St Mary Cray are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in St Mary Cray in which case you should be looking for a St Mary Cray conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As 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 changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in St Mary Cray who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a St Mary Cray conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in St Mary Cray. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Mary Cray from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Mary Cray can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in St Mary Cray state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • A minority of St Mary Cray leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a St Mary Cray conveyancing transaction. Where a new share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • I am the leaseholder of a second floor flat in St Mary Cray. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

    Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Mary Cray property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 50.57 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in St Mary Cray