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Cheltenham leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I only have Sixty One years left on my flat in Cheltenham. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Cheltenham.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Cheltenham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Cheltenham where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Cheltenham conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have 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 sale.

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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cheltenham with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cheltenham can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Cheltenham levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cheltenham.
  • A minority of Cheltenham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Cheltenham conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Cheltenham what are the most frequent lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Cheltenham. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Virgin Money, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

    Cheltenham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      Generally speaking the cost for major works are not included within maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Cheltenham obliged leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger works. Plenty Cheltenham leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically during the year. This may vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Who manages the block?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Cheltenham