I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Frant. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Frant - 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've recently bought a leasehold house in Frant. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Frant from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Frant can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Frant levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought 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 Frant.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Frant conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible 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.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £475000 garden flat in Frant on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Frant?

For most leasehold sales in Frant conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Frant
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

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

What makes a Frant lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Frant is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Frant Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

What is the name of the managing agents? Its a good idea to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they can either make your life much easier or a lot more difficult. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask other tenants if they are happy with them. Finally, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending that money. It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other significant cost is due in the foreseeable future to be shared between the tenants and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance charges or result in a specific payment.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Frant