Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Cholsey:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Cholsey, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Cholsey leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Cholsey. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Cholsey - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Cholsey ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Cholsey conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Cholsey conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Cholsey both have about fifty years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Cholsey is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Cholsey conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Cholsey where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Cholsey conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cholsey with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cholsey can be reduced where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • Many landlords or managing agents in Cholsey charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cholsey.
  • A minority of Cholsey leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Cholsey home move. If a new share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • I bought a basement flat in Cholsey, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Cholsey with a long lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2084

    You have 59 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £20,000 and £23,000 plus 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 the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Cholsey