Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Newham

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Leasehold conveyancing in Newham 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 Newham and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Recently asked questions relating to Newham leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my flat in Newham. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Newham.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Newham. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

I work for a busy estate agent office in Newham where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Newham conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 Newham from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Newham can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Newham state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Newham home move. If a new share is necessary, do contact 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 remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 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 property on the market for sale.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £500000 apartment in Newham in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Newham?

    Newham conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Newham conveyancing firm to help?

    Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Newham conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Newham property is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69.77 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Newham