Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Wimbledon:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Wimbledon, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, RBS or Bradford & Bingley be sure to find a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Common questions relating to Wimbledon leasehold conveyancing

I am intending to let out my leasehold flat in Wimbledon. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Wimbledon conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Wimbledon. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Wimbledon.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Wimbledon. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Wimbledon should include some of the following:

  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • 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.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?
  • 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 Wimbledon please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Wimbledon

    • I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Wimbledon where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Wimbledon conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

    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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wimbledon with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wimbledon can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Wimbledon levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wimbledon.
  • A minority of Wimbledon 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 put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Having spent months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Wimbledon. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Wimbledon conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Wimbledon residence is 629 Garratt Lane in September 2014. The consideration payable for the acquisition of the freehold of the subject property was the sum £21,302.74. This represented a valuation of the freehold in the sum of £23,864 from which the sum of £2561.27 has been deducted in respect of certain costs in repairing and insuring the premises This case related to 3 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72.94 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Wimbledon