Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Brampton

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Brampton, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Frequently asked questions relating to Brampton leasehold conveyancing

There are only 72 years unexpired on my flat in Brampton. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

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 or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Brampton.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Brampton. 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. 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 reputable estate agent office in Brampton where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Brampton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 purchaser.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Brampton with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Brampton can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Brampton leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • A minority of Brampton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. 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. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Brampton conveyancing transaction. If a new share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • All being well we will complete our sale of a £200000 flat in Brampton next week. The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Brampton?

    Brampton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    Brampton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

      You should be aware if it is fewer than eighty years it will impact the value of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Bramptonlease extensions you will need to own the property for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease. Its a good idea to discover as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. You should not be shy to ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. On a final note, find out the dates that the service charges are due to the relevant party and specifically how they are spending the funds. It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other major work is coming up to be shared amongst the leaseholders and will materially increase the the service fees or require a one off invoice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Brampton