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

Common questions relating to Fowey leasehold conveyancing

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Fowey 1st floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Fowey conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Fowey conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Fowey.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear 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 unless 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.

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Fowey where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Fowey conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Fowey from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fowey can be avoided if you appoint 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 purchasers’ representatives.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Fowey charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. 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 Fowey.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Fowey leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
  • Some Fowey 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 put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Fowey what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Fowey. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Mortgage Works, and Clydesdale all have very detailed 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, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

    I invested in buying a studio flat in Fowey, conveyancing was carried out 1998. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Fowey with an extended lease are worth £174,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083

    With just 58 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £23,800 and £27,400 as well as legals.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Fowey