Leasehold Conveyancing in North East London - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in North East London, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in North East London

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in North East London. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in North East London - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 own a leasehold house in North East London. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in North East London who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a North East London conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in North East London which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a busy estate agency in North East London where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local North East London conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

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 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North East London with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in North East London can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in North East London levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in North East London.
  • A minority of North East London leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to 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 financially capable of paying 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a North East London conveyancing deal. Where a new share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I purchased a 2 bed flat in North East London, conveyancing having been completed in 2011. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in North East London with over 90 years remaining are worth £263,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2094

    You have 70 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in North East London