Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Addington:

Get a Quote

Require a conveyancing quote from a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Addington on your lender’s panel? Make use of our search tool to find approved local Addington conveyancing practitioners or nationwide solicitors on your lender’s panel .

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Addington

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Addington. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Addington should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • The total extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but might incorporate a loft or cellar if applicable.
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Addington please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Addington

    • I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Addington. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

    The majority of houses in Addington are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Addington so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Addington conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority 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 will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.

    I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Addington both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

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

    In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Addington with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Addington can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Addington leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Addington conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Addington conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

    Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Addington conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Addington premises is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case related to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76.75 and 88.83.