Top Five Questions relating to Hoxton leasehold conveyancing
Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Hoxton basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Hoxton conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
Even though your previous Hoxton conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
There are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Hoxton. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. 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 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to carry out a search 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 conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hoxton.
Planning to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Hoxton. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hoxton should include some of the following:
- You should receive a copy of the lease
Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Hoxton. 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 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. 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).
What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Hoxton conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?
If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hoxton conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Hoxton conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:
- What volume of lease extensions have they completed in Hoxton in the last 12 months?
Following months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hoxton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hoxton property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.39 years.
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