Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Dorchester:

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

Common questions relating to Dorchester leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Dorchester. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Dorchester - 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.

Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Dorchester ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Dorchester conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Dorchester conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in Dorchester. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Dorchester who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Dorchester conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Dorchester where we see a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Dorchester conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Dorchester with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Dorchester can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Dorchester leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Dorchester conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Dorchester - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

      Please note that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Dorchesterlease extensions you would need to own the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. The majority of Dorchester leasehold flats will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the landlord. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this charge, usually periodically accross the year. This can differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Dorchester