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

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Victoria, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Frequently asked questions relating to Victoria leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Victoria. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Victoria - 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.

My partner and I may need to let out our Victoria ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Victoria conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Victoria conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Victoria both have about 50 years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Victoria is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Victoria conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Victoria from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Victoria can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Victoria levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Victoria.
  • A minority of Victoria leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Completion in due on the sale of our £325000 apartment in Victoria next week. The managing agents has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Victoria?

    Victoria conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

    Having spent years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Victoria. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Victoria residence is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 56 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Victoria