Leytonstone leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Leytonstone. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Leytonstone - 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.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Leytonstone. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Leytonstone where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Leytonstone conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having 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.
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 purchaser.
What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Leytonstone conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?
When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Leytonstone conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Leytonstone conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:
- How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
- What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Leytonstone in the last year?
If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 350000 flat in Leytonstone on Tuesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Leytonstone?
Leytonstone conveyancing on leasehold flats typically necessitates fees being raised by landlords agents :
- Answering pre-contract questions
- Where consent is required before sale in Leytonstone
- Supplying insurance information
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can I apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Leytonstone conveyancing firm to help?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Leytonstone conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Leytonstone flat is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.92 years.
I acquired a ground floor flat in Leytonstone, conveyancing having been completed in 2009. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Leytonstone with an extended lease are worth £200,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2101
You have 75 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.