Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Great Dunmow

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Leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow and next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Top Five Questions relating to Great Dunmow leasehold conveyancing

I only have 72 years left on my lease in Great Dunmow. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Great Dunmow.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Great Dunmow both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Great Dunmow is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Great Dunmow conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in Great Dunmow charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Great Dunmow leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Great Dunmow home move. If a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • We expect to complete our sale of a £325000 flat in Great Dunmow in just under a week. The management company has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Great Dunmow?

    Great Dunmow conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often requires the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Great Dunmow. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections 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 building
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Virgin Money, and TSB all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    Great Dunmow Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

      What prohibitions exist in the Great Dunmow Lease? Best to be warned if redecorating or some other major work is due shortly that will be shared amongst the tenants and will materially impact the level of the service costs or necessitate a one off invoice. Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that could increase the service fees?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Great Dunmow