I want to rent out my leasehold apartment in Burnham On Crouch. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Your lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Burnham On Crouch do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Burnham On Crouch. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Burnham On Crouch ?

The majority of houses in Burnham On Crouch are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Burnham On Crouch in which case you should be shopping around for a Burnham On Crouch conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I own a leasehold house in Burnham On Crouch. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Burnham On Crouch who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Burnham On Crouch conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a long established estate agency in Burnham On Crouch where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Burnham On Crouch conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 proposed purchaser 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £125000 garden flat in Burnham On Crouch in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Burnham On Crouch?

Burnham On Crouch conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded 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. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Burnham On Crouch - Examples of Queries before buying

Where a Burnham On Crouch lease has less than eighty years it will affect the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. For most Burnham On Crouchlease extensions you would need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease. For most Burnham On Crouch leaseholds the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Burnham On Crouch require leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?

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Lease Extensions in Burnham On Crouch