Conveyancing Solicitors

• The tenant is occupying the property for business purposes,
• The property is being occupied by virtue of a lease (as opposed to a licence), and
• The lease has not been excluded from the 1954 Act.

• The landlord must serve a notice on the tenant and any guarantor.
• The tenant and any guarantor must complete a simple or statutory declaration to confirm they understand that the
  lease will not have the security of tenure.

Failing to follow this procedure will mean that lease will be considered to have a security of tenure.

• Cleaning and maintaining the communal areas
• Communal areas: lighting, water and heating where applicable
• Caretaking and security
• Repairs and improvements
• Lift maintenance
• Maintaining door and gate entry systems
• Grounds maintenance
• Audit fees
• Bin hires
• Estate management fees
• Communal building insurance
• Reserve funds towards the cost of cyclical repairs or major works

Service charges are calculated by reference;

• The total floor area of the property as a percentage of the total floor area of the estate and/or building, or
• By a fixed figure subject to annual RPI increases, or
• By a fair and reasonable sum determined by the landlord.

At Adam Libah Solicitors, our lawyers could negotiate the Heads of Terms when agreeing on a lease to place a cap on
annual services charges.

Freehold sales and transfers
You can also use this to work out the SDLT rate for a lease premium (correct as of 24th Sep 2022):
Property or lease premium or transfer value = SDLT rate

• Up to £250,000 = Zero%
• The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) = 5%
• The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) = 10%
• The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) = 12%

New leasehold sales and transfers
When you buy a new residential leasehold property, you pay SDLT on the purchase price of the lease (the ‘lease premium’) using the rates above.

If the total rent over the life of the lease (known as the ‘net present value’) is more than the SDLT threshold (currently £250,000), you’ll pay SDLT at 1% on the portion over £250,000.

You can work out how much SDLT you’ll pay for your non-residential lease using HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

• Full mortgage offer: unless you are buying in cash, a full mortgage offer is required
• Local authority search must be conducted
• Water search
• Environmental search to ensure the property is not on or near contaminated land
• Chancel Check search to ensure the property is not within a Chancel Repair liability area
• Pre-contract enquiries