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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Kings Heath, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Kings Heath leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Kings Heath.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the invoice 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 unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Kings Heath. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Kings Heath ?

The majority of houses in Kings Heath are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Kings Heath in which case you should be shopping around for a Kings Heath conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Kings Heath where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Kings Heath conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kings Heath with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kings Heath can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Kings Heath leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
  • A minority of Kings Heath leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • 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 warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • What makes a Kings Heath lease defective?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Kings Heath is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain clauses 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 property
    • Insurance obligations
    • 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

    You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Direct 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, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

    I own a ground floor flat in Kings Heath, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Kings Heath with a long lease are worth £181,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2088

    With just 64 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £14,300 and £16,400 as well as legals.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Kings Heath