Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Horley:

Get a Quote

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Horley, you will need to appoint 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 approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Horley leasehold conveyancing

I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Horley. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Horley do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Horley. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Horley please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Horley

    • I work for a reputable estate agent office in Horley where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Horley conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having 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 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 buyer.

    Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Horley conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

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

    • Can they put you in touch with client in Horley who can give a testimonial?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • All being well we will complete our sale of a £175000 garden flat in Horley in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Horley?

    Horley conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Horley - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

      Many Horley leasehold flats will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the management company. If you purchase the property you will have to pay this liability, usually in instalments accross the year. This may differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check it because sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. This information is useful as a) areas could result in problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if services remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have complete disclosure Best to be warned whether redecorating or some other major work is pending to be shared amongst the leaseholders and could well dramatically increase the the maintenance costs or necessitate a one time invoice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Horley