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Bishopsworth leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Bishopsworth. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Bishopsworth.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Bishopsworth. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth should include some of the following:

  • The physical extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but may include a roof space or basement if applicable.
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Bishopsworth please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Bishopsworth

    • My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Bishopsworth. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Bishopsworth who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Bishopsworth conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Bishopsworth levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Bishopsworth state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Bishopsworth conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • What makes a Bishopsworth lease defective?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
    • 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

    You could have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Bishopsworth, conveyancing having been completed in 2002. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Bishopsworth with a long lease are worth £178,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2072

    With just 51 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £36,100 and £41,800 plus professional fees.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bishopsworth