Common questions relating to Kirkby Stephen leasehold conveyancing
I want to rent out my leasehold apartment in Kirkby Stephen. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?
Even though your last Kirkby Stephen conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Kirkby Stephen.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is 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 managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Kirkby Stephen. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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).
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Kirkby Stephen where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Kirkby Stephen conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that 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 proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.
What are the common deficiencies that you encounter in leases for Kirkby Stephen properties?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Stephen. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
- A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
- A duty to insure the building
- Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
- Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall
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. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.
I acquired a garden flat in Kirkby Stephen, conveyancing having been completed 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Kirkby Stephen with an extended lease are worth £199,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2079
With 55 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £32,300 and £37,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
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