Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough:

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Common questions relating to Crowborough leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Crowborough - 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to sub-let our Crowborough ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Crowborough conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your last Crowborough conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Crowborough where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Crowborough conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Crowborough conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Crowborough conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Crowborough conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

  • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Crowborough levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough.
  • Some Crowborough 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 bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Crowborough conveyancing deal. Where a new share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Crowborough - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      Who is in charge of the block? Generally speaking the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Crowborough ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger repairs or maintenance. Where a Crowborough lease has fewer than eighty years it will affect the value of the property. Check with your bank that they are content with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Crowboroughlease extensions you would need to own the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Crowborough