Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Forest Row:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Forest Row, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Forest Row conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Forest Row leasehold conveyancing

Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Forest Row. Conveyancing solicitors have said 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 Forest Row should include some of the following:

  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Forest Row please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Forest Row

    • I work for a long established estate agency in Forest Row where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Forest Row conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Forest Row with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Forest Row can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Forest Row levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. 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 typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Forest Row.
  • Some Forest Row leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Forest Row conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £425000 flat in Forest Row on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Forest Row?

    Forest Row conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    What makes a Forest Row lease problematic?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Forest Row is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • 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 will encounter 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 , Skipton Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Forest Row - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      Many Forest Row leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the landlord. If you acquire the property you will have to meet this amount, normally quarterly throughout the year. This may differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, normally this is not a exorbitant sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to check as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. How long is the Lease? Does the lease have onerous restrictions?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Forest Row