Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Sutton:

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Sutton, you will need to chose a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, RBS or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Sutton conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sutton leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Sutton. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Sutton - 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 62 years remaining on my flat in Sutton. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Sutton.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Sutton. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Sutton please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Sutton

  • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Sutton with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sutton can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Sutton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Sutton.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Sutton state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • A minority of Sutton 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. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

  • If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £250000 maisonette in Sutton in nine days. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Sutton?

    For most leasehold sales in Sutton conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

    • Completing pre-exchange questions
    • Where consent is required before sale in Sutton
    • Supplying insurance information
    • Deeds of covenant upon sale
    • Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
    Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Sutton leasehold premises is £350. For Sutton conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

    My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Sutton. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Sutton conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Sutton residence is Buchanan Court 39 Vernon Road in April 2010. the Tribunal assessed that the premium payable for the freehold of the block should be £44,000. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.67 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Sutton