Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Abbey Wood:

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Abbey Wood, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Common questions relating to Abbey Wood leasehold conveyancing

I wish to rent out my leasehold flat in Abbey Wood. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

The lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Abbey Wood do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my flat in Abbey Wood. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Abbey Wood.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Abbey Wood where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Abbey Wood conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Abbey Wood conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Abbey Wood conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Abbey Wood conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

  • How many lease extensions have they carried out in Abbey Wood in the last twenty four months?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Abbey Wood who can give a testimonial?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Abbey Wood with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Abbey Wood can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Abbey Wood levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Abbey Wood.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Abbey Wood leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • A minority of Abbey Wood leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Abbey Wood home move. Where a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can a leaseholder apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Abbey Wood conveyancing firm to represent me?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Abbey Wood residence is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case was in relation to 13 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Abbey Wood