Quality lawyers for Leasehold Conveyancing in Watford

Get a Quote

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

Common questions relating to Watford leasehold conveyancing

There are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in Watford. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Watford.

Looking forward to complete next month on a basement flat in Watford. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Watford should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Watford please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Watford

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Watford with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Watford can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Watford levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Watford.
  • Some Watford leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The 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 have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Watford conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £175000 apartment in Watford in nine days. The managing agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Watford?

    Watford conveyancing on leasehold flats often involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

    We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in Watford. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to make a decision on the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Watford premises is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case related to 3 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 71 years.

    What makes a Watford lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Watford is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Leeds Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Watford