Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury

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

Chipping Sodbury leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Chipping Sodbury. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Some leases for properties in Chipping Sodbury do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

There are only 62 years remaining on my flat in Chipping Sodbury. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission 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 or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Chipping Sodbury.

Due to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Chipping Sodbury. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • 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 Chipping Sodbury please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury

    • I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Chipping Sodbury.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many landlords or managing agents in Chipping Sodbury charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury.
  • A minority of Chipping Sodbury leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Chipping Sodbury conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Chipping Sodbury Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      The majority of Chipping Sodbury leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced by the management company. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, normally quarterly accross the year. This could be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a significant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check it because sometimes it could be surprisingly expensive. The best form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. You should be aware that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the residence for 24 months before you are eligible to extend the lease.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Chipping Sodbury