Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Lower Sunbury:

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Lower Sunbury, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Questions and Answers: Lower Sunbury leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Lower Sunbury. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Lower Sunbury - 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’m about to sell my garden flat in Lower Sunbury.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 own a leasehold house in Lower Sunbury. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Lower Sunbury who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Lower Sunbury conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Lower Sunbury conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Lower Sunbury conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Lower Sunbury conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

  • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Lower Sunbury in the last year?

    • Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Lower Sunbury from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Lower Sunbury can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Lower Sunbury leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Lower Sunbury home move. If a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify 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 dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Lower Sunbury. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to calculate the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Lower Sunbury flat is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 82.93 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Lower Sunbury