Barrow In Furness leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
There are only Seventy years left on my flat in Barrow In Furness. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Barrow In Furness.
Looking forward to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Barrow In Furness. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully 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 Barrow In Furness should include some of the following:
- Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Barrow In Furness. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Barrow In Furness ?
The majority of houses in Barrow In Furness are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Barrow In Furness so you should seriously consider looking for a Barrow In Furness conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Barrow In Furness. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Barrow In Furness where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Barrow In Furness conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 purchaser.
I inherited a leasehold flat in Barrow In Furness, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Barrow In Furness with a long lease are worth £226,000. The ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2095
You have 71 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
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