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Leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill and next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Top Five Questions relating to Maida Hill leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Maida Hill. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.For instance, does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • 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?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Maida Hill please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Maida Hill

    • I have just started marketing my garden flat in Maida Hill.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

    My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Maida Hill. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Maida Hill who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Maida Hill conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Maida Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

    In a situation 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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Maida Hill state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • Some Maida Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, 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 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Maida Hill home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Maida Hill. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

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

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Maida Hill premises is Flat 1 57 Oxford Gardens in January 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium to be paidfor a new lease is £61,650.00. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 60 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Maida Hill