Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Hathern:

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Leasehold conveyancing in Hathern is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Hathern and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Common questions relating to Hathern leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Hathern. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Hathern - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Hathern. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hathern.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Hathern. 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hathern with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hathern can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Hathern charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hathern.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Hathern state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
  • A minority of Hathern leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder 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 nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

    • When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Hathern what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Hathern. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Barnsley Building Society, and TSB all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    I inherited a split level flat in Hathern, conveyancing was carried out in 2003. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Hathern with over 90 years remaining are worth £241,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2092

    You have 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £14,300 and £16,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hathern