Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Axmouth and Branscombe

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Axmouth and Branscombe, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to Axmouth and Branscombe leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Axmouth and Branscombe. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Axmouth and Branscombe - 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 wish to let out my leasehold apartment in Axmouth and Branscombe. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Axmouth and Branscombe conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have Fifty years left on my lease in Axmouth and Branscombe. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Axmouth and Branscombe.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Axmouth and Branscombe. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Axmouth and Branscombe who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Axmouth and Branscombe conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Axmouth and Branscombe with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Axmouth and Branscombe can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Axmouth and Branscombe state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • A minority of Axmouth and Branscombe 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 financial (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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 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.

    • Axmouth and Branscombe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Make sure you discover if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Axmouth and Branscombe. If you like the apartmentin Axmouth and Branscombe but your cat can’t live with you then you have a very difficult decision. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Axmouth and Branscombe