New versions of several critical conveyancing forms have been created to expand the amount of property information available upfront.

Trade and representative bodies in the legal, estate agency, surveying and property management sectors have launched upgraded versions of the LPE1 (Leasehold Property Enquiries), LPE2 (Consumer summary) and FME1 (Freehold Management Enquiries) forms.

Fourteen industry bodies, including The Conveyancing Association and The Law Society, encourage their members and member firms to use these new upgraded versions from 11 January 2022.

Several further questions have been added to the third version of the LPE1 form, including establishing whether there are restrictions on keeping parking or pets. 

In addition, the form asks if an external firewall or a fire safety assessment has been undertaken and whether any urgent works are required. Hopefully, this will enable those marketing the property to identify material facts around cladding more easily. 

Stephanie Boyce, the Law Society president said: “We are pleased to see the launch of the new versions of these important property forms.

“Making key information about a property available to consumers and those who work in the conveyancing system is beneficial in terms of identifying any potential issues at an early stage and speeding up property transactions.

“The updated LPE1 form should allow for crucial information about fire safety and any urgent remediation work required to be identified as soon as possible.”

Director of delivery at the Conveyancing Association, Beth Rudolf, stated: “The industry has committed to ensuring the forms are up to date and continually assessed to make sure they ask for all the necessary information. These new iterations of the forms do just that, and particularly in light of the ongoing issues many leaseholders are having with their building’s fire safety, it is clearly very important that all stakeholders have full upfront and transparent information on this aspect of the property.

“We’ll continue to review these forms to make sure they are fit for purpose going forward and in particular as there becomes greater clarity over the need for external wall assessments and access to them.”

CEO of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA), Nigel Glen went on to say: “We are pleased with the comprehensive additions to the forms, in particular, the addition of the – usually belated and highly emotive – a matter of pets and the LPE1’s request for information on building safety. We hope the latter will help towards freeing up leaseholders to sell on properties where the fire risk is minimal. We also welcome the addition of the UPRN field as a means of encouraging its adoption across the residential building stock, the benefits of which have long been known.”

At SRB, our experienced residential property solicitors offer a comprehensive legal service for clients buying or selling a home. In addition, we can also check and provide impartial advice on mortgage loans. 

Notably, we are not a high-volume bucket type of conveyancing shop with paralegal staff, but you can count on quality and expertise with us. 

Contact us on 020 8891 6141

Potentially one and a half million leaseholders in England and Wales are facing an increased risk of their property plummeting in value, or even becoming unmortgageable, as a number of lenders have recently increased their minimum unexpired lease term requirements to 85 years.

In the last six months of 2015, 17 lenders – more than 12% of all mainstream lenders – amended their minimum lease term requirements upwards and ten lenders made a change from 70 to 85 years.

The lender’s requirements on the unexpired term of a lease offered as security are set out in part 2 of section 5.14.1 of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) handbook; the changes to these requirements means that many leasehold owners with less than 85 years remaining may find it very difficult to sell on.

Whether acting for the Seller or Buyer, we aim to minimise these difficulties for our clients by bringing this issue to their attention in early course and incorporating it in our Report on Title, where we also set out the various options available to them to progress the transaction.

Our approach ensures that the client is able to make an informed decision before committing to the transaction and when they look to sell the property, they will either have an already extended lease, which was negotiated at the time of their purchase and is mortgageable for the purpose of section 5.14.1 of the CML Handbook or they will be fully aware of the pitfalls going forward.

If you have any queries about diminishing lease terms and what options are available to you please contact Elizabeth Cobb or Sabina Ifraimova on 020 8891 6141 or e-mail e.cobb@srb.co.uk

Theodore Jenner, from Stone Rowe Brewer’s Teddington office, looks into some typical moving day conundrums and explains where we stand legally if a seller has refused to clear out their shed on completion day!

When buying a residential property the contract between a buyer and seller will contain a special condition that ‘the property is sold with vacant possession on completion’. What vacant possession actually means can cause confusion for both buyer and seller. Many people assume that simply moving out of your property on completion, with your furniture and personal possessions is adequate and see no problem with leaving rubbish in the shed, comprising of old paint pots that haven’t seen the light of day for years, or the old bits of carpet and broken furniture that were in the loft when the seller originally bought the property.

Does the seller have to remove everything?

I hear you say “does the seller has to remove these items?” – yes they do, unless you have agreed to purchase the property sold as seen, or are happy that the items can remain on completion and you will be responsible for the removal of the same. As a seller, you must not, when selling a property to a developer, think you can fill the now-empty swimming pool full of rubbish, just because the property is being developed.

To facilitate completion, the seller had to agree on an allowance, running into several thousand pounds. This covers the cost of emptying the swimming pool, to ensure vacant possession was given on completion, otherwise, the seller would have been in breach of contract and needed to complete to purchase an alternative property.

Nor can you remain at the property beyond the completion date because you know the buyer is not actually moving in until the weekend and you are completing on Thursday. One poor buyer went to inspect the property on completion and found the elderly seller still asleep in bed. The shocked buyer made a hasty retreat and, after a few telephone calls, vacant possession was given later that day.

Vacant possession means the property should be empty

A few years ago my in-laws were emigrating to Spain, the lorry had left with their furniture and we were helping them to load up the car with the last few remaining items when I noticed some rather large garden furniture and ornaments pushed to the side of the front garden. I inquired as to what was to become of these items and advised “oh there wasn’t enough room in the lorry, I’ll just pop a note into the estate agents to tell the buyers that they will be collected in a couple of weeks”. I quickly advised my father in law this was not acceptable and we agreed to store the items in our garden for the next two months before they were collected.

Arrange your removals as early as possible

Recent case law has clarified that vacant possession means the property should be empty of people and chattels, and the purchaser can enjoy immediate exclusive possession, occupation and control of the property.

The sale contract also states a time the property should be vacated, which is to be no later than 2.00pm. When deciding to arrange removals at a property yourself, you must therefore ensure if several trips in your van are required, you can vacate by this time. A buyer does not want to be waiting around with a lorry full of furniture or be unable to move into their new home because they have not yet been given vacant possession.

To avoid problems on completion, it is important you arrange your removals as early as possible so that the buyer can collect the keys from the estate agents once the seller’s solicitor has received completion monies from the buyer’s solicitors – especially if there is a large chain of transactions.

My advice to clients is to aim to be out of the property by lunchtime to enable a smooth transition between the seller vacating and the buyer moving into the property. Of course, sometimes there are problems, and unforeseen delays do occur which could mean the odd piece of furniture may have to remain at the property overnight, subject to agreement between the parties, but as your solicitor, this is something we would advise and negotiate on your behalf on completion day.

For more information, please contact our residential property solicitors by telephoning 020 8891 6141 or contacting our main office.