Info Licence to assign

[sfriziona]

Hi,

I am selling my flat in London , we are looking to exchange by the end of the week but the buyer solicitor asked for a Licence to assign the lease.
The freeholder doesn't have a solicitor and he asked me to produce one for his review and he will sign it, but I cannot find any template online.

Is there anyone here that can point me to a facsimile that can be used?
Or is it something that really need to be written by a lawyer?

Really appreciate any help.

[ram]

Then the freeholder must employ a solicitor if he does not have a clue, at the freeholders expense.

Points a Freeholder MUST consider are as follows
( give him / her a copy of this )
Points for Landlords to consider

• Before giving a written decision on a Licence to Assign, a Landlord should carefully review the terms of the lease and consider what conditions they would like a tenant to satisfy before they will agree to the sale of the property. They should ensure that each condition is justifiable and evaluate whether the overall all the conditions imposed would be viewed positively by the courts.
• It is reasonable for a Landlord to request bank references in order to ascertain whether a proposed assignee will be able to perform its obligations under the lease. If you are concerned about a new tenant being in a position to pay service charges and ground rent, then this would be an advisable request to make of new tenants.
• A Landlord can reasonably require inspections of a property prior to giving consent, and it is also reasonable for this to be done by a surveyor, with the Tenant to reimburse the Landlord for any surveyor’s fees. This is recommended to ensure that the existing tenant has not breached any terms of the lease, for example making alterations to the property which may not be permitted.
• Landlords should be cautious regarding professional and administrative fees. Any fees should be justifiable and relate to actual work being undertaken, and the Landlord should be able to produce specific breakdowns if required.
• Landlords should also consider requests for a Licence to Assign in a timely manner so as not to be seen to be unreasonably delaying the process.

[ram]

Also, from above
Try this template
https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/lease-assignment/

[sfriziona]

Thank you,

I hoped for something we could solve quickly...
I'll pass the information to him...

[leaseholder64]

The freeholder should have received form LPE1, which has a question about right to assign, which includes an option of the buyer providing the draft licence. That presumably means the buyer's solicitor.

[sfriziona]

Thank you,

freeholder ticked NO at point 2.2 " Is a licence to assign required ? " and N/A at point 8.12 " Any required Licence to Assign ".
I'll ask the buyer if they can provide a one quickly, probably the best option...

[Lawcruncher]

Then the freeholder must employ a solicitor if he does not have a clue, at the freeholders expense.

There is no obligation to employ a solicitor. A licence to assign is not a complicated document though some make it so to justify extortionate fees or because they have a weak grasp of what is required.

Points a Freeholder MUST consider are as follows etc

Sound advice, but again no obligation. If you are a tenant and the landlord says to give him something to sign and he'll sign it you comply.and keep your head down.

[Lawcruncher]

Is there anyone here that can point me to a facsimile that can be used?

I can produce some standard wording, but I need to know if the lease imposes any special requirements. Please quote the clause in the lease that says consent is required. Please also advise the date of the lease.

[ram]

1) There is no obligation to employ a solicitor.just because they have a weak grasp of what is required.

2) If you are a tenant and the landlord says to give him something to sign and he'll sign it you comply.and keep your head down.

1)
If some one does not know what to do, especially a freeholder, they must seek advice. and the freeholder is not on here seeking advice, therefore one would expect a sane person to seek advice.
Not from a mechanic, or plumber or tenant, but the legal profession.

2)
Here, we have leaseholders as directors, and they would not know how to word a licence to assign, and have not in the past, so asking a tenant leaseholder / director here, to write something and give it to the person administering the freehold, is not a good idea.

[sfriziona]

Agree with RAM, I guess we just have to spend more time and do it in a proper way. I'll see if buyer solicitor can draft a licence for the freeholder to review and I'll suggest for him to seek legal advise.
Thank all for your help...

[Lawcruncher]

I have read the lease and there is no requirement to obtain the landlord's consent - except during the last seven years of the term which have not yet arrived.

[sfriziona]

I have read the lease and there is no requirement to obtain the landlord's consent - except during the last seven years of the term which have not yet arrived.

Thank you again, I'll question my solicitor and see what he has to says.
This means that he hasn't even read the lease...

[leaseholder64]

Quite a lot of the question on the LPE1 enquiry form could be answered from the lease!

[Lawcruncher]

Quite a lot of the question on the LPE1 enquiry form could be answered from the lease!

I thought that when I had a look at the form. We did not have it in my day, when all this was trees...

A buyer's conveyancer really ought to read the lease before asking questions. As you go through it you make notes of points you need to raise. By the time you have read it you will know if a licence to assign is needed.

A seller's solicitor ought to at the very least scan the lease when drafting the contract to see if there is anything he needs to provide for.

[ram]

For a template to assign a lease, see post number 3.

I tried 3 times to post that link, by straight text, and via the link thing, but all 3 were unapproved.

I had to request my post be shown, and now it is, but people may have missed it as it appeared today, after about 10 more posts, but stuck in on the date submitted, and not at the end of all the posts.
So in case it was missed, see post number 3. I'm not going to mention the link again in a web site format, seeing as it was rejected 3 previous times.