Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Henbury

Get a Quote

While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Henbury, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Henbury leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Henbury. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or working from home
  • 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
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Henbury please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Henbury

    • I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Henbury.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    It best that you 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    I am employed by a busy estate agency in Henbury where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Henbury conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done 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.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Henbury conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Henbury conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Henbury conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Henbury who can give a testimonial?

    • When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Henbury what are the most frequent lease problems?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Henbury. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    I acquired a split level flat in Henbury, conveyancing was carried out 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Henbury with over 90 years remaining are worth £239,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2074

    You have 54 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £28,500 and £33,000 plus costs.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Henbury