Leasehold Conveyancing in Woodford Green - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Woodford Green, you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, RBS or Nationwide make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Woodford Green conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Woodford Green leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

My fiance and I may need to let out our Woodford Green garden flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Woodford Green conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Woodford Green do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in Woodford Green. Conveyancing solicitors assured 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 Woodford Green should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Setting out your rights in relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or working from home
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Woodford Green please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Woodford Green

  • I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Woodford Green which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Woodford Green from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Woodford Green can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Woodford Green charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Woodford Green.
  • Some Woodford Green leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, 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 able to meet 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 solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Woodford Green home move. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

  • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £150000 maisonette in Woodford Green on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Woodford Green?

    Woodford Green conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

    I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can one apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Woodford Green conveyancing firm to assist?

    Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to make a decision on the amount due.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Woodford Green premises is 201 & 201a St. Barnabas Road in October 2013. The Tribunal decided that the price to be paid by the Applicants for the freehold interest is £20,071. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 69.26 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Woodford Green