Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Buckden:

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Buckden leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Buckden. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Buckden who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Buckden conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Buckden. 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Buckden where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Buckden conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

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

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Buckden can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Buckden charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Buckden.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 ahead of 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 clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Buckden conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • What makes a Buckden lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Buckden is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements 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, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Buckden - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

      How much is the ground rent and service charge? The best form of lease structure is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Does the lease contain onerous restrictions?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Buckden