Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Chinatown costs more?

Chinatown leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving appropriate notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.

I have justdiscovered that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Chinatown for a purchase of a freehold house 12 months ago. How can I check that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest way to see if the premises is in your name, 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 Chinatown conveyancing specialists.

How does conveyancing in Chinatown differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Chinatown come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Chinatown usually acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Chinatown or who has acted in the same development.

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Chinatown I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Chinatown for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a home loan that many years will be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

Looking forward to complete next month on a basement flat in Chinatown. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown should include some of the following:

Changes to the premises You should know whether the lease permits you to add or upgrade aspects of the premises- you should be made aware as to whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether licences for alterations is mandated necessary Rent payments - what is payable and when is collected, and also know whether this will change in the future Repair and maintenance of the flat The total ownership of the premises. This might be the flat itself but might include a roof area or basement if appropriate.

Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Chinatown. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Chinatown conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Chinatown property is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 73.92 years.