I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in West Brompton - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in West Brompton.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a West Brompton conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a West Brompton conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non West Brompton conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• How many lease extensions has the firm completed in West Brompton in the last year?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in West Brompton charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton.
• Some West Brompton 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 should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder 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 reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a West Brompton home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 125000 apartment in West Brompton next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in West Brompton?

West Brompton conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Following years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Brompton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a West Brompton property is 5 Wetherby Gardens in June 2014. the Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the freehold of the property was £2,369,452. This case related to 5 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 38.98 years.

West Brompton Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? Where a West Brompton lease has less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most West Bromptonlease extensions you would need to own the residence for two years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension.