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Leasehold conveyancing in Upper Walthamstow 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 Upper Walthamstow and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Upper Walthamstow leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I only have 62 years unexpired on my flat in Upper Walthamstow. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Upper Walthamstow.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in Upper Walthamstow. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Upper Walthamstow should include some of the following:

  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Upper Walthamstow please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Upper Walthamstow

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Upper Walthamstow. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

    In a situation 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. A critical element 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 am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Upper Walthamstow where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Upper Walthamstow conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as 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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Upper Walthamstow from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Upper Walthamstow can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Upper Walthamstow charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Upper Walthamstow.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Upper Walthamstow state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property 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 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Upper Walthamstow home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • My wife and I have hit a brick wall in seeking a lease extension in Upper Walthamstow. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to determine the amount due.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Upper Walthamstow premises is 32 Howard Road in June 2012. the Tribunal held that premium payable for the freehold reversion should be £35,825 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 64 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Upper Walthamstow