Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Chester:

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Chester, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to Chester leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Chester. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Chester - 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 only have 68 years left on my lease in Chester. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Chester.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Chester.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is 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 management companies 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Chester. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Chester who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Chester conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

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

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chester can be reduced where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Chester leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • A minority of Chester leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal 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 re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Chester conveyancing transaction. Where a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I acquired a 1st floor flat in Chester, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Chester with an extended lease are worth £178,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2088

    With just 63 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £19,000 and £22,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" 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 in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Chester