Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Horwich. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Horwich - 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.

My wife and I may need to rent out our Horwich 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Horwich conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Horwich do not contain subletting altogether – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

There are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in Horwich. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Horwich.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Horwich with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Horwich can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Horwich charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Horwich.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Horwich state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord 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 will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Horwich home move. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £125000 flat in Horwich on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Horwich?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Horwich conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Horwich
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Horwich leasehold property is £350. For Horwich conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Horwich - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Does the lease have onerous restrictions? The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Is there a share of the freehold?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Horwich