Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Halstead. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Halstead - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Halstead. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Halstead who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR 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 instruct a Halstead conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Halstead which have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Halstead. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Halstead. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. However, 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 agency in Halstead where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Halstead conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence 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 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 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.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

Halstead Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

It would be a good idea to discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Halstead leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Halstead. If you love the propertyin Halstead but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced difficult choice. This information is useful as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will want to know about it