Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Hove

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Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Hove

I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Hove. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your last Hove conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Hove. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hove should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Hove please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Hove

    • I've recently bought a leasehold house in Hove. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

    Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. 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 work for a long established estate agent office in Hove where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Hove conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate 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 can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as 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 buyer.

    Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Hove conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hove conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Hove conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

    • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • I bought a 2 bed flat in Hove, conveyancing formalities finalised 1996. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Hove with a long lease are worth £239,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2088

    With only 63 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £17,100 and £19,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hove