Leasehold Conveyancing in Great Barr - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Great Barr, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Great Barr conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Recently asked questions relating to Great Barr leasehold conveyancing

I would like to rent out my leasehold apartment in Great Barr. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

A small minority of properties in Great Barr do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Expecting to complete next month on a studio apartment in Great Barr. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Great Barr please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Great Barr

    • Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold flat in Great Barr. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Great Barr who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

    First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Great Barr conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    I work for a long established estate agency in Great Barr where we see a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Great Barr conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm 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. This means 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    Alternatively, it may be possible 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Great Barr from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Barr can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Great Barr charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information 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 cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Barr.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Great Barr leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Great Barr conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Great Barr - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

      The answer will be helpful as a) areas can cause problems in the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have full disclosure Does the lease have more than 80 years left? It would be sensible to investigate if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Great Barr. If you love the propertyin Great Barr but your cat can’t move with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Great Barr