West Hendon leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in West Hendon. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.
If the lease is registered - and almost all are in West Hendon - 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 am attracted to a two apartments in West Hendon which have about forty five years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?
There are plenty of short leases in West Hendon. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area
Last month I purchased a leasehold house in West Hendon. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?
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).
I work for a long established estate agency in West Hendon where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local West Hendon conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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 disposal of the property.
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.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a West Hendon conveyancing firm to represent me?
Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Hendon premises is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 71 years.
What makes a West Hendon lease unmortgageable?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in West Hendon. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
- A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
- A duty to insure the building
- Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
- Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage
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. National Westminster Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.
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