Leasehold Conveyancing in West Brompton - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Common questions relating to West Brompton leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have 68 years left on my flat in West Brompton. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering West Brompton.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in West Brompton. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton should include some of the following:

  • You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in West Brompton please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in West Brompton

    • Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in West Brompton. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in West Brompton who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a West Brompton conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in West Brompton which have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you 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 acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

    Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in West Brompton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    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 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).

    After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Brompton. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a West Brompton conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a West Brompton flat 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.