Leasehold Conveyancing in Victoria Park - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

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

Recently asked questions relating to Victoria Park leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Victoria Park garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Victoria Park conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Victoria Park do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

I only have Seventy years left on my lease in Victoria Park. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Victoria Park.

I own a leasehold flat in Victoria Park. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Victoria Park who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Victoria Park conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Victoria Park. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Victoria Park with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Victoria Park can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Victoria Park leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Victoria Park conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Victoria Park Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

      Who is in charge of the block? The answer will be helpful as a) areas may cause problems in the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to know about it In the main the cost for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Victoria Park require tenants to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Victoria Park