Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Bishop Auckland

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Sample questions relating to Bishop Auckland leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Bishop Auckland. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Bishop Auckland - 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Bishop Auckland. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. 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 ensure 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bishop Auckland with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bishop Auckland can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Bishop Auckland levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bishop Auckland.
  • Some Bishop Auckland leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Bishop Auckland conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • All being well we will complete the disposal of our £200000 apartment in Bishop Auckland in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bishop Auckland?

    Bishop Auckland conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    What are the frequently found problems that you see in leases for Bishop Auckland properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Bishop Auckland is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, and Aldermore all have express 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 purchaser to pull out.

    Bishop Auckland Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

      How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? If a Bishop Auckland lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for 24 months in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension. The answer will be helpful as a) areas could cause problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have a dispute with the managing agents you will want to have all the details

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bishop Auckland