I am attracted to a two flats in Wormwood Scrubs both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Wormwood Scrubs is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Wormwood Scrubs. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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 busy estate agent office in Wormwood Scrubs where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 Wormwood Scrubs from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• A minority of Wormwood Scrubs leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 lawyers.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Wormwood Scrubs home move. Where a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser'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 early stage 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.

I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Wormwood Scrubs residence is 23 & 23A Collingbourne Road in June 2013. Tribunal was dealing with the assessment of the value of the freehold reversion and determination of the terms of the acquisition pursuant to an Order of District Judge Lightman dated 25 February 2013 vesting the freehold interest in the property in the applicant. The tribunal assessed the price of the freehold (to which any arrears or other sums due to the missing landlord under the leases should be added) at £81,638. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 64.5 years.

Are there frequently found deficiencies that you see in leases for Wormwood Scrubs properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations 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

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Wormwood Scrubs Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the block? The answer will be useful as a) areas can result in problems for the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to know about it Many Wormwood Scrubs leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the landlord. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly throughout the year. This could be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a significant figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive.