Expecting to exchange soon on a basement flat in Boroughbridge. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Boroughbridge should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Boroughbridge. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 work for a reputable estate agency in Boroughbridge where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Boroughbridge conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. 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 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Boroughbridge with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Boroughbridge can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Boroughbridge leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

What makes a Boroughbridge lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Boroughbridge is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Chelsea Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I bought a 2 bed flat in Boroughbridge, conveyancing was carried out in 2011. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Boroughbridge with a long lease are worth £257,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2097

With 72 years remaining on your lease 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 renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. 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 you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Boroughbridge