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

Whether you are buying or selling leasehold flat in Bootle, our panel of leasehold conveyancing experts will help you move with as little stress as possible. Find a Bootle conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Bootle leasehold conveyancing

I want to rent out my leasehold apartment in Bootle. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Bootle conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my flat in Bootle. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If 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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Bootle.

I own a leasehold flat in Bootle. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Bootle who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Bootle conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Bootle. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Bootle where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Bootle conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Bootle Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

    Is the freehold owned jointly by the leaseholders? The best form of lease structure is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the lessees enjoy 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. Are there any major works anticipated that could increase the maintenance fees?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bootle