Leasehold Conveyancing in Kirkby Stephen - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Stephen, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Kirkby Stephen conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Kirkby Stephen leasehold conveyancing

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Kirkby Stephen which have approximately forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Kirkby Stephen. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Kirkby Stephen. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Kirkby Stephen where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Kirkby Stephen conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 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 needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Kirkby Stephen conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Kirkby Stephen conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Kirkby Stephen conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How many lease extensions have they conducted in Kirkby Stephen in the last 12 months?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Kirkby Stephen who can give a testimonial?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Stephen from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Stephen can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Kirkby Stephen levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Stephen.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Kirkby Stephen state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • If you have had any disputes 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 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I bought a ground floor flat in Kirkby Stephen, conveyancing was carried out 1996. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Kirkby Stephen with a long lease are worth £169,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2085

    With only 60 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,900 and £24,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    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 in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues 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 based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Kirkby Stephen