Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in West Drayton:

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in West Drayton, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

West Drayton leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I only have Seventy years remaining on my flat in West Drayton. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering West Drayton.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in West Drayton. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in West Drayton are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in West Drayton in which case you should be looking for a West Drayton conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I work for a long established estate agent office in West Drayton where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local West Drayton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in West Drayton with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in West Drayton can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? West Drayton leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • Some West Drayton 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 bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord 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 property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £400000 garden flat in West Drayton next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in West Drayton?

    West Drayton conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates 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 assist. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

    I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a West Drayton conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

    Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a West Drayton conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a West Drayton property is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 69 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in West Drayton