Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in St Leonard Shoreditch

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

St Leonard Shoreditch leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

My partner and I may need to rent out our St Leonard Shoreditch basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I've found a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in St Leonard Shoreditch. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in St Leonard Shoreditch are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in St Leonard Shoreditch in which case you should be looking for a St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I own a leasehold house in St Leonard Shoreditch. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in St Leonard Shoreditch who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in St Leonard Shoreditch. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Leonard Shoreditch with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Leonard Shoreditch can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
  • 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 St Leonard Shoreditch state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • A minority of St Leonard Shoreditch leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. 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 financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important 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.

    • After years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Leonard Shoreditch. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to assess the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Leonard Shoreditch property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.39 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in St Leonard Shoreditch