I am looking at a couple of apartments in Heckington which have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Heckington. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Heckington. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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. A critical element 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Heckington from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Heckington can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Heckington levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Heckington.

A minority of Heckington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase 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 completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Heckington conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £300000 flat in Heckington next week. The management company has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Heckington?

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

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Heckington
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Heckington leasehold property is £350. For Heckington 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 provide the information.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Heckington what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Heckington. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• 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

You could have 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. Birmingham Midshires, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Heckington Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, although some managing agents in Heckington require leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared between the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the maintenance fees or require a specific payment. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Heckington