Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Clifton

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Clifton, you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, RBS or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Clifton leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I only have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Clifton. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Clifton.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Clifton.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Clifton from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Clifton can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Clifton charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Clifton.
  • A minority of Clifton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Clifton home move. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £125000 flat in Clifton in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Clifton?

    Clifton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    What makes a Clifton lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Clifton is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • Insurance obligations
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You may encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Clifton, conveyancing was carried out 8 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Clifton with an extended lease are worth £269,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2103

    You have 80 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should 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 Clifton