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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Biggleswade, you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Biggleswade

I only have 68 years left on my flat in Biggleswade. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission 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 locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Biggleswade.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Biggleswade which have approximately 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Biggleswade. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I work for a long established estate agent office in Biggleswade where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Biggleswade conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Biggleswade from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Biggleswade can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Biggleswade levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover 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 usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Biggleswade.
  • Some Biggleswade leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • All being well we will complete our sale of a £225000 apartment in Biggleswade in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Biggleswade?

    Biggleswade conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    I purchased a basement flat in Biggleswade, conveyancing was carried out 2012. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Biggleswade with over 90 years remaining are worth £203,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2097

    With 74 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

    The figure 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 comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Biggleswade