Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, RBS or Nationwide make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Fenstanton conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Fenstanton leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Fenstanton - 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 today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Fenstanton. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Fenstanton are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Fenstanton in which case you should be shopping around for a Fenstanton conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Fenstanton. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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. A critical element 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).

I work for a busy estate agency in Fenstanton where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Fenstanton conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in Fenstanton charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Fenstanton.
  • A minority of Fenstanton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents 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 annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord 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 reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 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 home on the market for sale.

    • Fenstanton Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      The majority of Fenstanton leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the building levied on behalf of the freeholder. Should you purchase the flat you will have to meet this amount, usually quarterly throughout the year. This may vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a significant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. What is the yearly service fee and ground rent? What is the name of the managing agents?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Fenstanton