Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Thames View:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Thames View, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or NatWest be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Thames View conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Common questions relating to Thames View leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Thames View. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Thames View - 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 wish to rent out my leasehold apartment in Thames View. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Thames View do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Thames View. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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. 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Thames View with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thames View can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Thames View leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • Some Thames View leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Thames View home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Having spent months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Thames View. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Thames View residence 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 unexpired term was 61.36 years.

    What makes a Thames View lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Thames View is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Leeds Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Thames View