I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Thamesmead. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Thamesmead are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Thamesmead in which case you should be looking for a Thamesmead conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Thamesmead. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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. 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).

I work for a long established estate agency in Thamesmead where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Thamesmead conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Thamesmead conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Thamesmead conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Thamesmead conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Thamesmead who can give a testimonial?
• What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Thamesmead from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thamesmead can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Thamesmead levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thamesmead.
• A minority of Thamesmead leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Thamesmead conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Thamesmead conveyancing firm to represent me?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Thamesmead premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.

Thamesmead Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Best to be warned if redecorating or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared amongst the leaseholders and may well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance costs or require a specific invoice. Be sure to discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example it is very common in Thamesmead leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Thamesmead. If you like the propertyin Thamesmead however your dog is not allowed to live with you then you have a very hard compromise.