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

Get a Quote

Require a conveyancing quote from a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill on your lender’s panel? Use our search tool to find approved local Maida Hill conveyancing lawyers or national solicitors on your lender’s panel .

Recently asked questions relating to Maida Hill leasehold conveyancing

Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Maida Hill 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Maida Hill conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Maida Hill do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Maida Hill. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Maida Hill.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Maida Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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 offer any advice when it comes to finding a Maida Hill conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Maida Hill conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Maida Hill conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

    • Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Maida Hill state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
  • Some Maida Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 rather than unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • I am the registered owner of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Maida Hill. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for a lease extension?

    if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to calculate the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Maida Hill premises is Flat 1 57 Oxford Gardens in January 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium to be paidfor a new lease is £61,650.00. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 60 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Maida Hill