Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Helsby. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Helsby - 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.

Planning to exchange soon on a garden flat in Helsby. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Setting out your rights in relation to common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Helsby please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Helsby

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Helsby where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Helsby conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Helsby from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Helsby can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Helsby charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Helsby.

If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Helsby leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Helsby home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

We expect to complete the sale of our £275000 maisonette in Helsby in just under a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Helsby?

Helsby conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically results in administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

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

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

Leasehold Conveyancing in Helsby - Examples of Queries before buying

It is important to be aware whether redecorating or some other major work is anticipated to be shared by the tenants and will dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or necessitate a specific payment. The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the leaseholders?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Helsby