Top Five Questions relating to Battlesbridge leasehold conveyancing
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Battlesbridge - 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 have just started marketing my basement flat in Battlesbridge.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Battlesbridge. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
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. Strange as it may seem, 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 work for a busy estate agency in Battlesbridge where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Battlesbridge conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having 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 agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge what are the most frequent lease problems?
Leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
- Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
- 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 may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and Britannia 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 provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.
Battlesbridge Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing
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On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although some managing agents in Battlesbridge ask leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance.
Be sure to investigate if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Battlesbridge leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Battlesbridge. If you love the flatin Battlesbridge but your dog can’t move with you then you will be faced hard compromise.
Best to be warned if window replacement or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared between the leaseholders and will materially increase the the service costs or necessitate a one time invoice.
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