Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Hengoed:

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

Questions and Answers: Hengoed leasehold conveyancing

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Hengoed. Am I liable to pay 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Hengoed where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hengoed conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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. 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 needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Hengoed conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hengoed conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Hengoed conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • Can they put you in touch with client in Hengoed who can give a testimonial?
  • What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hengoed from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hengoed can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Hengoed state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • A minority of Hengoed 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 financial (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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Completion in due on the disposal of our £375000 flat in Hengoed next week. The managing agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Hengoed?

    Hengoed conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    I acquired a 1st floor flat in Hengoed, conveyancing having been completed 2004. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Hengoed with an extended lease are worth £208,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

    With just 64 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hengoed