Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Dawley and Lawley:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Dawley and Lawley, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Dawley and Lawley conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Common questions relating to Dawley and Lawley leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Dawley and Lawley basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Dawley and Lawley conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Dawley and Lawley conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Dawley and Lawley.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge 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 managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold house in Dawley and Lawley. Conveyancing and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Dawley and Lawley who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Dawley and Lawley conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Dawley and Lawley. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. A critical element 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Dawley and Lawley from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Dawley and Lawley can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many landlords or managing agents in Dawley and Lawley levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. 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 average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Dawley and Lawley.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Dawley and Lawley state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Should you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • A minority of Dawley and Lawley leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers 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 pay 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

    • I own a 1 bedroom flat in Dawley and Lawley, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Dawley and Lawley with over 90 years remaining are worth £200,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2102

    With just 77 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Dawley and Lawley