Leasehold Conveyancing in Harrow - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Harrow, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Harrow leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Harrow 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Harrow conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Harrow conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only Seventy years left on my flat in Harrow. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Harrow.

I am hoping to complete next month on a basement flat in Harrow. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Harrow 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 physical extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but may include a roof space or cellar if appropriate.
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • 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.
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Harrow please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Harrow

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Harrow. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Harrow with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Harrow can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Harrow charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. 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 accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Harrow.
  • Some Harrow leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. 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 should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harrow. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

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

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Harrow flat is flat 93b Welldon Crescent in May 2009. The Tribunals valuation for a 90-year lease extension of this fat was £13,171 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 75.25 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Harrow