Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Harbury:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Harbury, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or NatWest be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Questions and Answers: Harbury leasehold conveyancing

I only have 68 years unexpired on my flat in Harbury. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Harbury.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Harbury. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 be sure 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 reputable estate agency in Harbury where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Harbury conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Harbury with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harbury can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Harbury levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. 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 Harbury.
  • Some Harbury leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. 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. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 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 freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Harbury home move. If a new share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is 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 property on the market for sale.

    • What are the frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Harbury properties?

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

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
    • 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 will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Mortgage Works, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express 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 provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

    Harbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before buying

      Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Most Harbury leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the landlord. If you buy the flat you will have to meet this contribution, normally quarterly during the year. This can vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a significant sum, say about £25-£75 but you should to check as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Harbury