Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow:

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Sample questions relating to Great Dunmow leasehold conveyancing

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Great Dunmow. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Great Dunmow where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Great Dunmow conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 buyer can avoid having 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Great Dunmow conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Great Dunmow conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Great Dunmow conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

  • How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Great Dunmow 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 sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Great Dunmow leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • Some Great Dunmow leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Great Dunmow home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • What makes a Great Dunmow lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    I inherited a studio flat in Great Dunmow, conveyancing formalities finalised 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Great Dunmow with a long lease are worth £219,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

    With 69 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus professional fees.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Great Dunmow