Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Linslade:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Linslade, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Recently asked questions relating to Linslade leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Linslade. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Linslade - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Linslade. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Linslade should include some of the following:

  • Defining your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Does the lease prevent you from renting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Linslade please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Linslade

    • I am looking at a two flats in Linslade both have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Linslade is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Linslade conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

    I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Linslade. 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. 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).

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Linslade with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Linslade can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Linslade state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
  • Some Linslade leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, 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 will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Linslade home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Linslade Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

      You should be aware that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Linsladelease extensions you will need to own the property for 24 months before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension. The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Make sure you investigate if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example it is very common in Linslade leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Linslade. If you love the apartmentin Linslade yet your dog is not allowed to move with you then you have a very difficult decision.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Linslade