Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in South London

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in South London, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in South London

I only have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in South London. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. 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 submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing South London.

Planning to exchange soon on a garden flat in South London. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in South London should include some of the following:

  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in South London please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in South London

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in South London. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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 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 am employed by a long established estate agency in South London where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local South London conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 commence 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 simultaneously with 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.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a South London conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a South London conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non South London conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

    • How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in South London who can give a testimonial?

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a South London conveyancing firm to help?

    You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a South London conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a South London flat is Flat B 10 Grove Avenue in October 2013. Following a vesting order Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court 3rd July 2013 The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the lease extension was £36,215.00 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 65.21 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in South London