Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Boscastle:

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Common questions relating to Boscastle leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Boscastle. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Boscastle - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Boscastle. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Boscastle who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Boscastle conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Boscastle both have in the region of fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Boscastle is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Boscastle conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Boscastle from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Boscastle can be bypassed 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 purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Boscastle leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • Some Boscastle leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Are there common problems that you encounter in leases for Boscastle properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Boscastle. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • 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. National Westminster Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Boscastle Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      Many Boscastle leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly during the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say around £50-£100 but you need to check it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. The answer will be useful as a) areas may result in problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have all the details Best to be warned whether fixing the lift or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared amongst the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the maintenance fees or necessitate a one time payment.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Boscastle