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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Cheddar, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to Cheddar leasehold conveyancing

There are only 68 years left on my flat in Cheddar. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Cheddar.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Cheddar. 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Cheddar where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Cheddar conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 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 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.

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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Cheddar with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cheddar can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • The majority landlords or managing agents in Cheddar charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cheddar.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Cheddar state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you fail to have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Cheddar home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

    • What makes a Cheddar lease unacceptable for security purposes?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Cheddar. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    I acquired a garden flat in Cheddar, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Cheddar with over 90 years remaining are worth £254,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2093

    With only 68 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 as well as professional fees.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Cheddar