Leasehold Conveyancing in Turnpike Lane - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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Leasehold conveyancing in Turnpike Lane is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Turnpike Lane and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Common questions relating to Turnpike Lane leasehold conveyancing

I only have Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Turnpike Lane. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Turnpike Lane.

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Turnpike Lane.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Turnpike Lane. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Turnpike Lane ?

The majority of houses in Turnpike Lane are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Turnpike Lane so you should seriously consider looking for a Turnpike Lane conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Turnpike Lane. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. However, 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 ensure 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Turnpike Lane from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Turnpike Lane can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Turnpike Lane levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Turnpike Lane.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Turnpike Lane state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.
  • A minority of Turnpike Lane leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

    • Having spent years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Turnpike Lane. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Turnpike Lane flat is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 81.79 years.