Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in East Dean. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in East Dean - 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.

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in East Dean. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in East Dean should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

The physical extent of the demise. This will be the property itself but could also incorporate a roof space or basement if applicable.

Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the block.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over a path or staircase?

Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in East Dean please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in East Dean

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a East Dean conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

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

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in East Dean in the last year?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £200000 apartment in East Dean in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in East Dean?

For most leasehold sales in East Dean conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in East Dean
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for East Dean leasehold premises is £350. For East Dean conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

What makes a East Dean lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in East Dean is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Virgin Money, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in East Dean - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Plenty East Dean leasehold flats will have a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the management company. If you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, usually in instalments during the year. This could vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you should to check as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. For most East Dean leaseholds the cost for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in East Dean ask leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most East Deanlease extensions you will need to own the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in East Dean