Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Halkyn leasehold conveyancing

Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Halkyn garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Halkyn conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Halkyn do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse 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.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Halkyn. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Halkyn.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Halkyn both have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Halkyn is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 Halkyn conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Halkyn where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Halkyn conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Halkyn charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Halkyn.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Halkyn state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. If you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • Some Halkyn leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Halkyn - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      Does the lease have onerous restrictions? The best form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have control and even though a managing agent is usually employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. In the main the outlay for major works are not built into the service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Halkyn require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for larger works.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Halkyn