I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Glossop. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Glossop should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Glossop please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Glossop

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Glossop both have about forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Glossop is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Glossop conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Glossop where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Glossop conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 buyer.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Glossop from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Glossop can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Glossop levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack 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 usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Glossop.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Glossop state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

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 purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Glossop home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

Completion in due on the sale of our £500000 flat in Glossop on Monday in a week. The management company has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Glossop?

Glossop conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily results in administration charges raised by freeholders :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Glossop
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Glossop leasehold property is £350. For Glossop 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 answers.

Glossop Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

Where a Glossop lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have owned the residence for 24 months in order to be eligible to extend the lease. How many years remain on the lease? Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in Glossop leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Glossop. If you love the apartmentin Glossop but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you have a very hard choice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Glossop