I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Keswick. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Keswick - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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've recently bought a leasehold property in Keswick. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Keswick with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Keswick can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Keswick charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Keswick.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Keswick state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

Some Keswick leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £325000 apartment in Keswick on Tuesday in a week. The management company has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Keswick?

Keswick conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates fees being raised by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Keswick
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Keswick leasehold property is £350. For Keswick 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 required to supply answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Keswick what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Keswick. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Virgin Money, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Keswick Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? The majority of Keswick leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this amount, normally periodically during the year. This could differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, normally this is not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Keswick require tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Keswick