Leasehold Conveyancing in Castle Vale - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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Castle Vale leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Castle Vale. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Castle Vale - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Castle Vale which have about 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Castle Vale. 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 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 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Castle Vale where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Castle Vale conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Castle Vale from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Castle Vale can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Castle Vale state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Castle Vale conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is needed, 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 remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I own a ground floor flat in Castle Vale, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Castle Vale with a long lease are worth £241,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2087

    You have 61 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as costs.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Castle Vale