Top Five Questions relating to Cringleford leasehold conveyancing
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Cringleford. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Cringleford - 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’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Cringleford.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you pay 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 until 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.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Cringleford. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Cringleford who acted for me is not around.What should I do?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Cringleford conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Cringleford. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Cringleford where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Cringleford conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start 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 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 prior to, 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 purchaser.
I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Cringleford, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Cringleford with an extended lease are worth £235,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2077
With just 52 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
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