Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Grangetown:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Grangetown, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Grangetown conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Grangetown leasehold conveyancing

I would like to rent out my leasehold apartment in Grangetown. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your previous Grangetown conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I own a leasehold flat in Grangetown. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Grangetown who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Grangetown conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Grangetown. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. However, 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Grangetown conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Grangetown conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Grangetown conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Grangetown with the aim of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Grangetown can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Grangetown state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • A minority of Grangetown leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 prior to 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 better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Grangetown home move. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Grangetown - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      You should want to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they will either make your life much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues such as the cleanliness of the common parts. Don't be shy to ask other tenants what they think of them. On a final note, find out the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the appropriate party and precisely what it includes. How is the lease structured? Plenty Grangetown leasehold flats will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the management company. Where you buy the property you will have to pay this amount, normally in instalments accross the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Grangetown