I have todayfound out that Wolstenholmes have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in East Barnet for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I check that the property is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of East Barnet conveyancing specialists.
I am buying a new build flat in East Barnet. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in East Barnet
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There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one close by in East Barnet I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in East Barnet in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
I have been recommended by three or four local property agents in East Barnet to get a quote from a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers rather than a competitor’s?
We don’t make any commission for directing people to this site. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in East Barnet. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?
If 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing East Barnet.
I own a ground floor flat in East Barnet. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for a lease extension?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a East Barnet conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a East Barnet residence is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 70.31 years.
I own a leasehold flat in East Barnet. Conveyancing was finalised in 21012. I have been told that I should not allow the lease length fall too short. What is the reasoning?
East Barnet leasehold properties are for a set term - usually 99 years when they commenced. However many flats in East Barnet were built or converted 30 or more years ago and so these leases now have less than eighty years unexpired. This may seem like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage companies tend to require leases to have at least 75 years unexpired to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are approaching 75 years. To enhance your property value you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also significant benefits to taking action before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease falls below eighty years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to increase.