Leasehold Conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

Whether you are buying or selling leasehold flat in Wormwood Scrubs, our panel of leasehold conveyancing experts will help you move with as little stress as possible. Find a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Wormwood Scrubs leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Wormwood Scrubs please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs

    • I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Wormwood Scrubs.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

    The sensible thing to do is pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    I've found a house that seems to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Wormwood Scrubs. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

    Most houses in Wormwood Scrubs are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Wormwood Scrubs so you should seriously consider looking for a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Wormwood Scrubs state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • A minority of Wormwood Scrubs leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Wormwood Scrubs. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the price payable.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Wormwood Scrubs premises 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 was in relation to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 64.5 years.