Leasehold Conveyancing in Leamington Spa - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Leamington Spa, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Frequently asked questions relating to Leamington Spa leasehold conveyancing

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Leamington Spa. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Leamington Spa should include some of the following:

  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
  • You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Leamington Spa please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Leamington Spa

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Leamington Spa. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

    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. A critical element 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 work for a busy estate agency in Leamington Spa where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Leamington Spa conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 choosing a Leamington Spa conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Leamington Spa conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Leamington Spa conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Leamington Spa in the last year?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Leamington Spa who can give a testimonial?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Leamington Spa from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leamington Spa can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Leamington Spa levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Leamington Spa.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Leamington Spa state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
  • A minority of Leamington Spa 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 put in hand 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Leamington Spa Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

      Please note that where the lease has less than eighty years it will affect the marketability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease. Is there a share of the freehold? Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Leamington Spa