Sample questions relating to East London leasehold conveyancing
I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in East London. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?
Notwithstanding that your previous East London conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in East London. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?
If 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 an order 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 locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering East London.
I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in East London. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in East London should include some of the following:
- How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in East London. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £375000 flat in East London in 5 days. The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in East London?
East London conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee 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 cases it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.
Despite our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in East London. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a East London conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a East London premises is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 73.26 years.
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