Leasehold Conveyancing in Crabtree - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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

Sample questions relating to Crabtree leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Crabtree. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Crabtree - 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 have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my flat in Crabtree. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Crabtree.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Crabtree. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Crabtree should include some of the following:

  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or working from home
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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 For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Crabtree please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Crabtree

    • I work for a reputable estate agency in Crabtree where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Crabtree conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Crabtree with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crabtree can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Crabtree levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crabtree.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Crabtree home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Crabtree Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other significant cost is anticipated that will be shared between the leasehold owners and may well materially increase the the service fees or necessitate a specific invoice. The majority of Crabtree leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for maintenance of the building levied by the landlord. Should you acquire the property you will have to meet this charge, normally periodically accross the year. This could be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. What is the length of the lease?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Crabtree