Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Hoole. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Hoole - 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.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years unexpired on my lease in Hoole. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Hoole.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Hoole. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Hoole where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Hoole conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £500000 garden flat in Hoole in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Hoole?

Hoole conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Hoole - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

How long is the Lease? Make sure you discover if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Hoole. If you like the apartmentin Hoole but your cat is not allowed to move with you then you will be faced difficult compromise. You should be aware if it is no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the property for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hoole