Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Grappenhall. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Grappenhall - 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.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years unexpired on my lease in Grappenhall. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

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 extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Grappenhall.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Grappenhall with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Grappenhall can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Grappenhall charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out 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 common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Grappenhall.

If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Grappenhall leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Grappenhall home move. Where a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £175000 apartment in Grappenhall on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Grappenhall?

Grappenhall conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Grappenhall
• 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 Grappenhall leasehold premises is £350. For Grappenhall 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.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Grappenhall what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Grappenhall. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Grappenhall Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Plenty Grappenhall leasehold flats will have a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the freeholder. If you buy the apartment you will have to meet this liability, usually in instalments throughout the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, normally this is not a significant amount, say around £50-£100 but you need to check it because on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. Make sure you discover if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Grappenhall. If you love the apartmentin Grappenhall yet your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Grappenhall