Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bexhill:

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

Top Five Questions relating to Bexhill leasehold conveyancing

I own a leasehold house in Bexhill. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Bexhill who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Bexhill conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a two apartments in Bexhill which have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Bexhill is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Bexhill conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Bexhill. 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 lessee 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. A critical element 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Bexhill where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Bexhill conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bexhill from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bexhill can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Bexhill charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have 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 reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bexhill.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Bexhill leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • A minority of Bexhill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Bexhill - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

      What is the name of the managing agents? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually employed if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bexhill