Leasehold Conveyancing in Hastings - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Hastings, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Hastings conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Hastings leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Hastings. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Hastings - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Hastings. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hastings should include some of the following:

  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.For instance, does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Hastings please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Hastings

    • I’m about to sell my garden flat in Hastings.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Hastings where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Hastings conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

    As long as 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 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 sale.

    An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hastings from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hastings can be reduced where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in Hastings levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack 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 common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hastings.
  • 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 Hastings state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Hastings home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Hastings, conveyancing having been completed 6 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Hastings with an extended lease are worth £230,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2089

    With 64 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,900 and £24,200 plus costs.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hastings