Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Crawley Down

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

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Crawley Down

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Crawley Down. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Crawley Down.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Crawley Down. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Crawley Down are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Crawley Down so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Crawley Down conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Crawley Down where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Crawley Down conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Crawley Down with the intention of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crawley Down can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Crawley Down leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Crawley Down conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact 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 it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Are there common defects that you see in leases for Crawley Down properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Crawley Down. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions 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, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Crawley Down Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

      This information is important as a) areas can cause problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have all the details Most Crawley Down leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block levied on behalf of the freeholder. Should you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check as sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. Are there any major works in the planning that will increase the service fees?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Crawley Down