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

Get a Quote

Leasehold conveyancing in Leeswood is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Leeswood and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Leeswood leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Leeswood 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Leeswood conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Leeswood do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Leeswood.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Leeswood where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Leeswood conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 commence 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 finding a Leeswood conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Leeswood conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Leeswood conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

  • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
  • What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Leeswood with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Leeswood can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Leeswood charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought 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 delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leeswood.
  • A minority of Leeswood leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Leeswood home move. Where a duplicate share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important 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.

    • Leeswood Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      How long is the Lease? Many Leeswood leasehold flats will have a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. Where you purchase the property you will have to pay this contribution, usually quarterly during the year. This could vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to check as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Leeswood