I have given 8 weeks notice to my existing landlord and have to leave my let out flat in Wimbledon by 24/3/2025. Conveyancing on my purchase is underway. Can I complete in a couple of weeks as I wish to avoid having to find temporary accommodation?
It is unwise to provide notice for your tenancy until your lawyer suggests that you should. If you have not previously done so, notify to your solicitor and urge them to they seek the assistance the sellers solicitors, try to get a realistic time scale from them that all parties will look to achieve
Completed the sale of my flat in Wimbledon last October yet the purchaser is telephoning daily to moan that their solicitor is waiting to hear from mylawyer. What should have happened following completion?
After completion of your house sale your solicitor should send the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. If applicable, your conveyancer should also evidence that the home loan has been redeemed to the buyers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion procedures just for conveyancing in Wimbledon.
three months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Wimbledon completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I was pointed in your direction by numerous selling agents in Wimbledon to get a quote from a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to recommend your services rather than a competitor’s?
We refuse to give any commission for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Should I appoint a Wimbledon conveyancing lawyer in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can perform the legal work but they are based a couple of hundredmiles drive away.
The benefit of a high street Wimbledon conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local knowledge which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were impressed that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Wimbledon conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Wimbledon based.
I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Wimbledon which have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Wimbledon is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 property 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 Wimbledon conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Wimbledon conveyancing firm to help?
Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to make a decision on the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Wimbledon property is 629 Garratt Lane in September 2014. The consideration payable for the acquisition of the freehold of the subject property was the sum £21,302.74. This represented a valuation of the freehold in the sum of £23,864 from which the sum of £2561.27 has been deducted in respect of certain costs in repairing and insuring the premises This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.94 years.