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

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Leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Frequently asked questions relating to Sydenham Hill leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Sydenham Hill - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 have just started marketing my 2 bed flat in Sydenham Hill.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the service charge 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 unless 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Sydenham Hill conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Sydenham Hill conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Sydenham Hill conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Sydenham Hill in the last year?
  • What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Sydenham Hill levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Sydenham Hill leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • A minority of Sydenham Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

    • Following years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Sydenham Hill. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Sydenham Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Sydenham Hill property is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.04 years.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.