Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Barnard Castle

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Barnard Castle, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Barnard Castle conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Barnard Castle leasehold conveyancing

There are only 62 years left on my lease in Barnard Castle. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Barnard Castle.

Back In 2009, I bought a leasehold flat in Barnard Castle. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Barnard Castle who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Barnard Castle conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Barnard Castle conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Barnard Castle conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Barnard Castle conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

  • Can they put you in touch with client in Barnard Castle who can give a testimonial?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Barnard Castle from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barnard Castle can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Barnard Castle charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barnard Castle.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Barnard Castle state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • Some Barnard Castle leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 lawyers.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Barnard Castle conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £350000 apartment in Barnard Castle next week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Barnard Castle?

    Barnard Castle conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    Barnard Castle Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

      You should be aware that where the lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the residence for a couple of years before you are legally able to carry out a lease extension. The majority of Barnard Castle leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the freeholder. Where you acquire the flat you will have to meet this liability, usually quarterly during the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. In the main the outlay for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Barnard Castle require tenants to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major works.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Barnard Castle