I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Hartford. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Hartford are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Hartford in which case you should be looking for a Hartford conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Hartford which have about fifty years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Hartford. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Hartford where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hartford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 prior to, 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Hartford conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hartford conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Hartford conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Can they put you in touch with client in Hartford who can give a testimonial?

Completion in due on the sale of our £475000 apartment in Hartford on Thursday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hartford?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Hartford conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Hartford
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Hartford leasehold property is £350. For Hartford conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

Hartford Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

If a Hartford lease has less than 80 years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease. How is the lease structured? The majority of Hartford leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building set by the landlord. If you buy the apartment you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly accross the year. This could differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, normally this is not a exorbitant figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds.

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Lease Extensions in Hartford