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Questions and Answers: Royal Tunbridge Wells leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my lease in Royal Tunbridge Wells. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Royal Tunbridge Wells.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a garden flat in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • The total extent of the demise. This will be the property itself but might incorporate a roof space or basement if applicable.
  • Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Royal Tunbridge Wells please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells

    • Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Royal Tunbridge Wells who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Royal Tunbridge Wells conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. 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.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Royal Tunbridge Wells. 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 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 Royal Tunbridge Wells with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Royal Tunbridge Wells charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Royal Tunbridge Wells state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • A minority of Royal Tunbridge Wells leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to 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 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Royal Tunbridge Wells home move. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Royal Tunbridge Wells, conveyancing formalities finalised 6 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Royal Tunbridge Wells with a long lease are worth £229,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2101

    With just 76 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures 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. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

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    Lease Extensions in Royal Tunbridge Wells