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Leasehold conveyancing in Alsager is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Alsager and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Alsager leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

There are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Alsager. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Alsager.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Alsager.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge 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 managing agents 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 am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Alsager. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Alsager are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Alsager in which case you should be shopping around for a Alsager conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Alsager with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Alsager can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • A minority of Alsager leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Alsager home move. Where a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • What are the frequently found problems that you encounter in leases for Alsager properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Alsager is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • 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 will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Leeds Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

    Alsager Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

      Be sure to discover if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance it is very common in Alsager leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Alsager. If you like the flatin Alsager but your dog can’t live with you then you have a very difficult compromise. Where a Alsager lease has less than 80 years it will affect the value of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for 24 months before you are eligible to carry out a lease extension. How is the lease structured?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Alsager