Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Questions and Answers: Belgravia leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Belgravia - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Belgravia.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Belgravia where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Belgravia conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 finding a Belgravia conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Belgravia conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Belgravia conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Belgravia levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Belgravia leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • A minority of Belgravia leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge 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 settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

    • I am the proprietor of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Belgravia. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for a lease extension?

    Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Belgravia conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Belgravia premises is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 13.33 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Belgravia