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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, RBS or Nationwide be sure to find a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Questions and Answers: Ivybridge leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Ivybridge garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Ivybridge conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Ivybridge conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must obtain permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in Ivybridge. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Ivybridge.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Ivybridge.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I work for a busy estate agency in Ivybridge where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Ivybridge conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge with the aim of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in Ivybridge charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Ivybridge state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • Some Ivybridge leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Ivybridge - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Ivybridgelease extensions you will be required to have owned the premises for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the lessees benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Ivybridge