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Leasehold conveyancing in Canterbury is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Canterbury and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Top Five Questions relating to Canterbury leasehold conveyancing

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Canterbury. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Canterbury who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Canterbury conveyancing practitioner 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 landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Canterbury. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Canterbury conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Canterbury conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Canterbury conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Canterbury in the last twenty four months?
  • What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Canterbury from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Canterbury can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Canterbury charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Canterbury.
  • Some Canterbury 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 bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • We expect to complete our sale of a £175000 flat in Canterbury next Thursday . The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Canterbury?

    Canterbury conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Canterbury - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      The answer will be important as a) areas can result in problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have full disclosure How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? For most Canterbury leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Canterbury ask tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for larger works.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Canterbury