Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbridge:

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbridge, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Kingsbridge conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Kingsbridge leasehold conveyancing

There are only 68 years remaining on my lease in Kingsbridge. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Kingsbridge.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Kingsbridge. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Kingsbridge who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Kingsbridge conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Kingsbridge which have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Kingsbridge where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Kingsbridge conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbridge from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbridge can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Kingsbridge leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Kingsbridge home move. Where a new share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if 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 verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

  • I inherited a basement flat in Kingsbridge, conveyancing was carried out in 2000. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Kingsbridge with a long lease are worth £203,000. The ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2087

    With only 63 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £17,100 and £19,800 as well as legals.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Kingsbridge