Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Keyworth:

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Keyworth, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to Keyworth leasehold conveyancing

Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Keyworth garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Keyworth conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Keyworth do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I only have Fifty years left on my lease in Keyworth. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If 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 enable the lease to be extended 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 may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Keyworth.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Keyworth where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Keyworth conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Keyworth conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Keyworth conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should 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 Keyworth conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Keyworth with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Keyworth can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • A minority of Keyworth leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Keyworth home move. Where a new share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 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.

    • Keyworth Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      This information is important as a) areas could result in problems in the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to know about it Where a Keyworth lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension. Does the lease include onerous restrictions?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Keyworth