Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Leigh:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Leigh, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Leigh

I only have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Leigh. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Leigh.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Leigh. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Leigh are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Leigh in which case you should be shopping around for a Leigh conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Leigh. Do I have any liability for 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 owner 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 am employed by a long established estate agency in Leigh where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Leigh conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Leigh with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Leigh can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Leigh charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Leigh.
  • Some Leigh 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 financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Leigh Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

      You should want to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they will either make life much simpler or problematic. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the appropriate party and precisely what you get for your money. Is the freehold owned collectively by the tenants? Who manages the block?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Leigh