Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Brixham

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Common questions relating to Brixham leasehold conveyancing

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

Even though your last Brixham conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Brixham. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Brixham.

Due to exchange soon on a garden flat in Brixham. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Brixham please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Brixham

  • I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Brixham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

    It best that you discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Brixham with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Brixham can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Brixham levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Brixham.
  • A minority of Brixham 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Brixham conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

  • Brixham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. How long is the Lease? Plenty Brixham leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the landlord. Should you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, usually in instalments throughout the year. This could be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check it because sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Brixham