Leasehold Conveyancing in Upminster Bridge - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

Whether you are buying or selling leasehold flat in Upminster Bridge, our panel of leasehold conveyancing experts will help you move with as little stress as possible. Find a Upminster Bridge conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Upminster Bridge leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I wish to let out my leasehold apartment in Upminster Bridge. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Upminster Bridge do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my flat in Upminster Bridge. I need to get lease extension but my landlord 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Upminster Bridge.

I am looking at a two flats in Upminster Bridge which have in the region of forty five years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Upminster Bridge is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Upminster Bridge conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Upminster Bridge conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Upminster Bridge conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Upminster Bridge conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

  • How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Upminster Bridge with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Upminster Bridge can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Upminster Bridge state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • A minority of Upminster Bridge leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous 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 resolve 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 rather than unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Having spent months of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Upminster Bridge. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to assess the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Upminster Bridge property is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 57.5 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Upminster Bridge