Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Ashbourne

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Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Ashbourne

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Ashbourne. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Ashbourne please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Ashbourne

    • My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Ashbourne. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Ashbourne who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Ashbourne conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Ashbourne where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Ashbourne conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    As long as 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. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

    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 buyer.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ashbourne from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ashbourne can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Ashbourne charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. 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 reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ashbourne.
  • Some Ashbourne leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 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 reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Ashbourne home move. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • What makes a Ashbourne lease problematic?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Ashbourne. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that 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 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 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. HSBC Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Aldermore all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

    Ashbourne Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

      How is the lease structured? The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. The answer will be useful as a) areas can cause problems in the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will need to know about it

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Ashbourne