Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Glan Conwy. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Glan Conwy - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in Glan Conwy. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Glan Conwy.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Glan Conwy both have approximately 50 years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Glan Conwy. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Glan Conwy with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Glan Conwy can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Glan Conwy state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Glan Conwy conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £275000 maisonette in Glan Conwy next Friday . The freeholder has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Glan Conwy?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Glan Conwy 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 conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Glan Conwy
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Glan Conwy leasehold property is £350. For Glan Conwy 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 obliged to supply the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Glan Conwy - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the length of the lease? Who are the managing agents? The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the tenants have control and although a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Glan Conwy