I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Eye. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Eye - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

I only have 62 years unexpired on my lease in Eye. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Eye.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Eye.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is pay the invoice 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 management companies 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Eye from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Eye can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• A minority of Eye leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Eye home move. Where a new share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £275000 maisonette in Eye on Tuesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Eye?

Eye conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally results in administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Eye
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Eye leasehold property is £350. For Eye 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 obliged to supply the information.

Eye Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

If a Eye lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. For most Eyelease extensions you will need to own the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension. How many years are left on the lease? On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Eye require tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for larger repairs or maintenance.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Eye