Common questions relating to Stoke Newington leasehold conveyancing
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Stoke Newington. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.
If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Stoke Newington - 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.
My husband and I may need to sub-let our Stoke Newington ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Stoke Newington conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
Even though your previous Stoke Newington conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
I’m about to sell my basement flat in Stoke Newington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you pay the service charge 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Stoke Newington. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Stoke Newington who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Stoke Newington conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Stoke Newington where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Stoke Newington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Stoke Newington. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Stoke Newington conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Stoke Newington residence is Lower Flat 16A Beatty Road in September 2012. The premium payable was £13,577. The terms of the lease has been agreed between the Applicants and the First Respondent and the Tribunal did not seek to disturb that agreement. This case related to 1 flat.
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