I am hoping to exchange soon on a garden flat in West Hampstead. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in West Hampstead please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in West Hampstead

I work for a long established estate agent office in West Hampstead where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local West Hampstead conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 Hampstead with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Hampstead can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in West Hampstead levy fees 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 as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Hampstead.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? West Hampstead leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.

A minority of West Hampstead 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any 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 purchasers or their lawyers.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential 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 property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £175000 flat in West Hampstead in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in West Hampstead?

For most leasehold sales in West Hampstead conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in West Hampstead
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for West Hampstead leasehold property is £350. For West Hampstead conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide the information.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a West Hampstead conveyancing firm to assist?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a West Hampstead flat is Flat A 372 Cricklewood Lane in January 2013. The Tribunal decided that the premium for the extended lease should be £5,750.00 and that the terms of the new lease should be those set out in annex to the decsion This case related to 1 flat.

What makes a West Hampstead lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in West Hampstead. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in West Hampstead