Leasehold Conveyancing in Hessle - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Hessle, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Hessle conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Hessle leasehold conveyancing

My fiance and I may need to let out our Hessle basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Hessle conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Hessle conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Hessle. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hessle.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Hessle where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Hessle conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Hessle conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hessle conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Hessle conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Hessle in the last twenty four months?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hessle from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hessle can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Hessle charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for 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 usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hessle.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Hessle state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. If you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
  • A minority of Hessle leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled 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 may need to swallow your pride 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 ahead of 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 better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

    • I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Hessle, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Hessle with an extended lease are worth £194,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

    With just 80 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hessle