I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Streatham. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Streatham - 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 only have 62 years left on my lease in Streatham. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Streatham.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Streatham which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Streatham. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Streatham. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. It is an essential part 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).

Completion in due on the sale of our £125000 apartment in Streatham in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Streatham?

Streatham conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often requires the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

Following months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Streatham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Streatham conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Streatham premises is Flat 12, Newlands Court Streatham Common North in May 2012. the decision of the Tribunal was that the premium payable by the Applicants to the Respondent for the new lease of the Premises be £70,140. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 23.25 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Streatham