Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Abercarn

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Abercarn, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Abercarn conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Abercarn

Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Abercarn garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Abercarn conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Abercarn do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Abercarn both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Abercarn. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Abercarn. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Abercarn where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Abercarn conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Abercarn with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Abercarn can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Abercarn charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Abercarn.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Abercarn state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Abercarn Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      Most Abercarn leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced by the landlord. Where you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, normally quarterly during the year. This can vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, normally this is not a large sum, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Is there a share of the freehold? This question is important as a) areas could cause problems for the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will want to know about it

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Abercarn