Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Colchester. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Colchester - 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.

I own a leasehold flat in Colchester. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Colchester who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Colchester conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Colchester both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Colchester is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. 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 a residence 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 Colchester conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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 any new 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Colchester from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Colchester can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Colchester charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought 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 cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Colchester.

What makes a Colchester lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Colchester is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• 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

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Aldermore 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 grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Colchester Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

What is the the remaining lease term? The majority of Colchester leasehold properties will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the freeholder. If you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, usually in instalments during the year. This could vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a exorbitant amount, say around £50-£100 but you need to check as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Can you tell me if there are any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the service charges?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Colchester