Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Crowborough

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough, you will need to chose a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Crowborough leasehold conveyancing

There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Crowborough. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Crowborough.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Crowborough. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Crowborough are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Crowborough so you should seriously consider looking for a Crowborough conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with 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 will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Crowborough which have approximately fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Crowborough where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Crowborough conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 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.

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 provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • The majority landlords or managing agents in Crowborough levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crowborough.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Crowborough leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 prior to 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 ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Crowborough Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

      How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? How long is the Lease? Best to be warned whether fixing the lift or some other major work is due shortly that will be shared by the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the service charges or result in a specific invoice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Crowborough