Wanstead leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Wanstead. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Wanstead - 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.
Planning to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Wanstead. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Wanstead should include some of the following:
- You should receive a copy of the lease
Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Wanstead. Do I have any liability for 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 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. 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 am employed by a busy estate agent office in Wanstead where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Wanstead conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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.
Following years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Wanstead. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Wanstead conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Wanstead residence is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.92 years.
When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Wanstead what are the most frequent lease defects?
Leasehold conveyancing in Wanstead is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
- Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
- Insurance obligations
- A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
- Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall
A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.
Other Topics