Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Allestree:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Allestree, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Allestree conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to Allestree leasehold conveyancing

I only have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Allestree. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Allestree.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Allestree. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Allestree should include some of the following:

  • The total extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but may include a loft or cellar if appropriate.
  • Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Allestree please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Allestree

    • I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Allestree which have approximately fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

    I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Allestree where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Allestree conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

    As long as 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 need not have to sit tight for 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 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 buyer.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Allestree from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Allestree can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Allestree charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Allestree.
  • A minority of Allestree leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Allestree conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • Allestree Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? You should want to find out as much as possible about the company managing the block as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with their service. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending that money. Is there a share of the freehold?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Allestree