I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Honor Oak - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Planning to complete next month on a basement flat in Honor Oak. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The total extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but may include a loft or basement if appropriate.

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

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 Honor Oak please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Honor Oak

I own a leasehold flat in Honor Oak. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Honor Oak who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Honor Oak conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Honor Oak leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.

A minority of Honor Oak leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 rather than unresolved.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Honor Oak conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £450000 apartment in Honor Oak next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Honor Oak?

For most leasehold sales in Honor Oak conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Honor Oak
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Honor Oak leasehold premises is £350. For Honor Oak conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Honor Oak. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for a lease extension?

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

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Honor Oak flat is Flat 1 40-42 Ewelme Road in August 2012. the Tribunal assessed the premium for the lease extension in the sum of £11,800 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 61.81 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Honor Oak