Leasehold Conveyancing in Baildon - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Baildon, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Baildon conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Baildon leasehold conveyancing

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Baildon. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Baildon please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Baildon

    • I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Baildon which have approximately fifty years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

    I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Baildon where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Baildon conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Baildon with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Baildon can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Baildon state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • A minority of Baildon 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 obtain financial (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 the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Baildon conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Baildon what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Baildon. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • 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.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB 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 problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

    I bought a basement flat in Baildon, conveyancing formalities finalised 10 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Baildon with an extended lease are worth £247,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2103

    You have 78 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as legals.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Baildon