Frequently asked questions relating to Thames View leasehold conveyancing
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my flat in Thames View. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Thames View.
Due to exchange soon on a basement flat in Thames View. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Thames View should include some of the following:
- You should be sent a copy of the lease
I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Thames View.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?
The sensible thing to do is pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Thames View. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Thames View who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Thames View conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Thames View where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Thames View conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is 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 buyer.
I am the proprietor of a basement flat in Thames View. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?
if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Thames View premises is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 61.36 years.
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