Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Victoria Docks:

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Recently asked questions relating to Victoria Docks leasehold conveyancing

There are only 68 years remaining on my lease in Victoria Docks. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Victoria Docks.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Victoria Docks. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Victoria Docks ?

Most houses in Victoria Docks are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Victoria Docks in which case you should be looking for a Victoria Docks conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Victoria Docks. Conveyancing and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Victoria Docks who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Victoria Docks conveyancing practitioner 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 rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Victoria Docks from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Victoria Docks can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Victoria Docks leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • Some Victoria Docks leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. 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 financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £150000 garden flat in Victoria Docks next Friday . The managing agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Victoria Docks?

    Victoria Docks conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    I inherited a two-bedroom flat in Victoria Docks. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

    Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Victoria Docks flat is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 69.77 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Victoria Docks