Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Westbury Park. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Westbury Park - 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.

My fiance and I may need to rent out our Westbury Park ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Westbury Park conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Westbury 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 suggests 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 today plan to offer on a house that seems to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Westbury Park. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Westbury Park are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Westbury Park in which case you should be shopping around for a Westbury Park conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

I own a leasehold flat in Westbury Park. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Westbury Park who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Westbury Park conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. 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.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Westbury Park where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Westbury Park conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Westbury Park Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Westbury Parklease extensions you will need to own the property for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease. The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Please inform me if there are any major works in the planning that could increase the service charges?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Westbury Park