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

Common questions relating to West Brompton leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in West Brompton. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in West Brompton ?

The majority of houses in West Brompton are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in West Brompton in which case you should be shopping around for a West Brompton conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in West Brompton both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in West Brompton. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold property in West Brompton. Am I liable to pay 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
  • The majority landlords or Management Companies in West Brompton charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? West Brompton leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • A minority of West Brompton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £400000 maisonette in West Brompton on Monday in a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in West Brompton?

    West Brompton conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in West Brompton. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a West Brompton residence 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 remaining number of years on the lease was 38.98 years.