I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Aberystwyth. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Aberystwyth - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a basement flat in Aberystwyth. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Aberystwyth should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Aberystwyth where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Aberystwyth conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £175000 flat in Aberystwyth on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Aberystwyth?

Aberystwyth conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They may charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Aberystwyth what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Aberystwyth is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Aberystwyth Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability? Best to be warned whether changing the roof or some other major work is due in the near future to be shared between the leasehold owners and may well materially increase the the maintenance fees or necessitate a one time payment.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Aberystwyth