Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Waltham. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Bishops Waltham - 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.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Bishops Waltham garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Bishops Waltham conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Bishops Waltham conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my flat in Bishops Waltham. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bishops Waltham.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £275000 apartment in Bishops Waltham on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Bishops Waltham?

Bishops Waltham conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Bishops Waltham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bishops Waltham leasehold property is £350. For Bishops Waltham conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

What makes a Bishops Waltham lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Waltham is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• 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 can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Virgin Money, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bishops Waltham - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees have control and even though a managing agent is usually employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. How is the lease structured? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bishops Waltham