Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood:

Get a Quote

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

Top Five Questions relating to Chelmsley Wood leasehold conveyancing

I only have 62 years left on my lease in Chelmsley Wood. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Chelmsley Wood.

Expecting to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Chelmsley Wood. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • The total extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but could also include a roof space or basement if applicable.
  • Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Chelmsley Wood please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood

    • My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Chelmsley Wood. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Chelmsley Wood who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Chelmsley Wood conveyancing solicitor 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.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Chelmsley Wood. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    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. 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 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).

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in Chelmsley Wood levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Chelmsley Wood state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you dont have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Chelmsley Wood - A selection of Queries before buying

      Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? The answer will be useful as a) areas can cause problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to know about it If a Chelmsley Wood lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the value of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. For most Chelmsley Woodlease extensions you would need to own the residence for two years in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Chelmsley Wood