Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Buckley

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

Buckley leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Buckley. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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 details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Buckley please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Buckley

    • I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Buckley both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

    There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Buckley 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 premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 a residence 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 Buckley conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Buckley. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

    Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 busy estate agent office in Buckley where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Buckley conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start 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 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

    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 buyer.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Buckley from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Buckley can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Buckley levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Buckley.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Buckley leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • A minority of Buckley leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Buckley - A selection of Queries before buying

      Best to be warned if a new roof is being installed or some other significant cost is pending that will be shared amongst the leaseholders and will materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or necessitate a specific payment. Most Buckley leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the landlord. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this liability, normally in instalments during the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. How long is the Lease?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Buckley