Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Easton:

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

Top Five Questions relating to Easton leasehold conveyancing

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Easton garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Easton conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Easton conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Easton which have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Easton is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Easton conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Easton. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. It is an essential part 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 Easton with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Easton can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Easton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought 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 Easton.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Easton conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is required, you should approach the company officers 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 wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Completion in due on our sale of a £475000 apartment in Easton next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Easton?

    Easton conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

    Easton Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

      If a Easton lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. For most Eastonlease extensions you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the premises for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. The answer will be important as a) areas may result in problems in the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the running of the building you will need to have all the details Please inform me if there are any major works in the near future that could add a premium to the maintenance fees?

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    Lease Extensions in Easton