Common questions relating to Harold Park leasehold conveyancing
There are only 72 years unexpired on my flat in Harold Park. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Harold Park.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Harold Park.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
It best that you discharge the invoice 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.
Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Harold Park. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. It is an essential part 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).
I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Harold Park where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Harold Park conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
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.
We expect to complete the disposal of our £500000 apartment in Harold Park in 5 days. The management company has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Harold Park?
Harold Park conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily necessitates fees being levied by freeholders :
- Answering pre-exchange enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Harold Park
- Copies of the building insurance and schedule
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harold Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Harold Park conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Harold Park residence is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.
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