Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bridgwater:

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Bridgwater leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bridgwater. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Bridgwater - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my lease in Bridgwater. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Bridgwater.

I am hoping to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Bridgwater. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.E.G., does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Bridgwater please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Bridgwater

    • I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Bridgwater where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Bridgwater conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 commence 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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Bridgwater conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bridgwater conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Bridgwater conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

    • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Bridgwater - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

      How much is the service charge and ground rent on the flat? Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? Many Bridgwater leasehold apartments will have a service bill for maintenance of the block set by the management company. If you purchase the property you will have to pay this liability, normally in instalments accross the year. This can vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a significant amount, say about £50-£100 but you need to check as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bridgwater