Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Great Baddow:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Great Baddow, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest be sure to find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Great Baddow conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Great Baddow leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Great Baddow. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Great Baddow - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 only have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Great Baddow. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Great Baddow.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Great Baddow.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Great Baddow where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Great Baddow conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Great Baddow with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Baddow can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • The majority landlords or managing agents in Great Baddow levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Baddow.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Great Baddow state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • Some Great Baddow leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Great Baddow conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • Great Baddow Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      Its a good idea to find out as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily issues such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask prospective neighbours what they think of their service. Finally, be sure you understand the dates that the service fees are due to the managing agents and precisely what it includes. Please note if it is fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have owned the property for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease. How is the lease structured?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Great Baddow