Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Fenstanton

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, RBS or Bradford & Bingley be sure to find a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Fenstanton leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Fenstanton. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Fenstanton.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Fenstanton. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Defining your rights in respect of common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Fenstanton please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Fenstanton

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • A minority of Fenstanton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Fenstanton conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term 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.

    • We expect to complete the disposal of our £500000 garden flat in Fenstanton next week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Fenstanton?

    Fenstanton conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

    Are there common deficiencies that you come across in leases for Fenstanton properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses 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
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , The Mortgage Works, and Alliance & Leicester all have express 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Fenstanton - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      This question is helpful as a) areas can cause problems in the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to know about it How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? You should be aware if it is fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. For most Fenstantonlease extensions you will be required to have owned the property for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Fenstanton