Abergele leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my flat in Abergele. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Abergele.
I’m about to sell my basement flat in Abergele.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Abergele. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
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 be sure 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Abergele where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Abergele conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.
If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £400000 flat in Abergele in just under a week. The management company has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Abergele?
For most leasehold sales in Abergele conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
- Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Abergele
- Supplying insurance information
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
Abergele Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying
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Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that could increase the service costs?
If a Abergele lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the salability of the flat. Check with your lender that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have owned the premises for two years in order to be entitled to extend the lease.
On the whole the cost for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Abergele require leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.
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