Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Wapping:

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Wapping, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Sample questions relating to Wapping leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Wapping. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Wapping.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Wapping. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Wapping who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Wapping conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Wapping where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Wapping conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence 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 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 appointing a Wapping conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Wapping 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 talk with two or three firms including non Wapping conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

  • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Wapping in the last year?

    • Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Wapping with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wapping can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Wapping state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • A minority of Wapping leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Wapping conveyancing firm to assist?

    if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the amount due.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Wapping property is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case related to 41 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 107 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Wapping