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

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Top Five Questions relating to Llandudno leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Llandudno. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Llandudno.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Llandudno. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Llandudno who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Llandudno conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Llandudno. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. However, 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 Llandudno from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Llandudno levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Llandudno leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer 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 marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • What makes a Llandudno lease problematic?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    Llandudno Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      Many Llandudno leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the block levied by the management company. Where you buy the flat you will have to pay this liability, usually quarterly accross the year. This could differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to check it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. What is the yearly maintenance fee and ground rent? Who are the managing agents?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Llandudno