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Joshua
Joshua, Lawyer
Category: Property Law
Satisfied Customers: 32257
Experience:  LL.B (Hons), Higher Prof. Dip. Law & Practice
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We want to know if 'Schedule 2' in our lease accurately and

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Hello, we want to know if 'Schedule 2' in our lease accurately and clearly demises the garden surface to Flat 2 or if it in fact leaves interpretation open to being considered a 'communal' space?
JA: Because laws vary from place to place, can you tell me where the property is located?
Customer: SW1P 1PN
JA: Has anything been filed or reported?
Customer: No
JA: Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.
Customer: This is a critically important question. Our conveyancer says a deed of variation is necessary to make it clear, other parties do not agree that it is necessary and they consider it is already clear enough. Our concern is will this issue come up again when we arrange to sell it.
Joshua

Hello and thank you for your question. My name is ***** ***** I will be very pleased to assist you. I'm a practising lawyer in England with over 15 years’ experience. Please be aware that although I will endeavour to reply to you promptly, I am also in full time private practice and so I may not be available to respond immediately and it may also take me a few minutes to prepare a reply. The site will notify you as soon as I respond. I look forward to working with you to answer your question fully.

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do you have a copy of the lease available to upload please?

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
I have just uploaded it

May I confirm that the facts includes a terrace outside of the flat which I suspect you may be describing as a garden. Is that correct please?

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
correct

thank you. The demise of the lease includes among other things, the surface of the terrace external to the flat to the extent that is shown edged red on plan number 2 to the lease. This means that that terrace area shown within the red edging constitutes part of the demise and would not constitute communal land

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Thanks for that.
In the same schedule 2 it mentions a flat on the top floor, what does it mean by that? Is schedule 2 only about Flat 2 or more flats? Does it make clear what access rights the Landlord has?

this is a drafting convenience to allow the lease to deal with all of the flats in the building without the need for significant amendment. it would only apply in relation to the demise of the lease for the flat on the top floor

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Ok thanks. There is a vault underneath the surface of the terrace which is demised to the flat. This vault is apparently demised to the Landlord. Does that present some issues with regards ***** ***** access and is this handled appropriately in the lease?

I would be very happy to assist with the above however as I note this appears to be a substantially new line of questioning rather than a follow up question which will necessitate reviewing other parts of the lease which will take some additional time I should be grateful if you would kindly consider raising this as a new question. if you would like me specifically to deal with it you can start the question "FOR JOSHUA ONLY" or similar.

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/law/

Alternatively I can send you an offer to extend the question and answer time to enable us to examine this new area of questioning if you prefer. I am grateful in anticipation of your understanding.

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Okay sure, I would like to explore the lease with you further and get some better understanding on our rights within it. I have several questions. Should I list them all and then you provide a quote for addressing them?

By all means. I'm grateful for your understanding this respect

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Problems with defining premises:[1] Just to confirm - you don’t see any ambiguity about the demise of the terrace area to Flat 2? Please could you provide as much detail as possible on this referencing the lease?
[2] The lease identifies the surface as being demised to the flat, what does that mean in practise? We can build / put anything on top of the surface as we require but not go below the surface without permission. What would cross the line?
[3] If we decided to (for example) landscape the garden and deck it (maintaining access points) would we need permission for that? If so, why?
[4] What is the landlord wanted to do something with the vaults. Would we have any rights to stop them? Can they legally access the terrace at anytime under this lease or they would need to provide us with notice?
[5] If walls and fences are demised to the management company can we paint / attach things to them? And what if they fall down?
[6] Are we within our rights to ask for a full plan of the structures beneath the surface? They have denied us a survey of the vaults under the surface of the garden so we don’t know how to approach this.
[7] Do we have right of way / access through the rear entrance to the garden and does the lease make clear how this is managed?Concerns with the lease:

[1] Because the share of freehold was sold the lease does not seem applicable in some clauses (e.g. there is no longer a Ground Rent - contrary to page 3 on the PDF). Would we need a deed of variation about Ground Rent or is it just a simple indemnity we would need in this case?
[2] We don’t have any detail on what happens for building maintenance in our garden and how often / when we would need to provide access.
[3] Is there anything else in the lease you think we should be concerned about or consider?

Thank you. This is a lot to consider. I think this may be better dealt with by email. With your permission I will send you an offer to exchange email contact information - this is treated as a premium service but I will specify the minimum fee so as not to materially increase costs

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Many thanks. If you would like to drop me a line at your convenience. I have added my contact information.
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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
Okay I sent you an email with the same.

Many thanks. With your permission may I respond in the morning on this?

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Customer: replied 14 days ago.
of course, no problem. Thanks

many thanks. I have just replied to you.

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