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Halkyn leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I wish to let out my leasehold apartment in Halkyn. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

A small minority of properties in Halkyn do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests 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.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my flat in Halkyn. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Halkyn.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Halkyn both have approximately 50 years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Halkyn. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Halkyn where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Halkyn conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as 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 Halkyn with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Halkyn levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. 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 reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn.
  • Some Halkyn leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Halkyn Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      Please note that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the value of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Halkynlease extensions you would need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Halkyn ask tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for larger works. The best form of lease structure is if the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Halkyn