Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Gerrards Cross

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Gerrards Cross, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Gerrards Cross conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Gerrards Cross leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Gerrards Cross. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Gerrards Cross - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Gerrards Cross. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Gerrards Cross should include some of the following:

  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • 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
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Gerrards Cross please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Gerrards Cross

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Gerrards Cross. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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).

    I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Gerrards Cross where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Gerrards Cross conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. This means 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 simultaneously with 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 buyer.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Gerrards Cross with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Gerrards Cross can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Gerrards Cross levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. 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 average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Gerrards Cross.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Gerrards Cross state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
  • Some Gerrards Cross 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 financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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.

    • I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Gerrards Cross. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    Where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Gerrards Cross flat is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case affected 3 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 71 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Gerrards Cross