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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch, you will need to chose a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, RBS or Nationwide be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Aldborough Hatch conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Aldborough Hatch leasehold conveyancing

I’m about to sell my basement apartment in Aldborough Hatch.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge 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 managing agents 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 tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Aldborough Hatch both have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Aldborough Hatch. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Aldborough Hatch. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. 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).

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Aldborough Hatch where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Aldborough Hatch conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 Aldborough Hatch from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in Aldborough Hatch levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. 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 accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch.
  • A minority of Aldborough Hatch leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Aldborough Hatch home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Aldborough Hatch. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Aldborough Hatch premises is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 61.36 years.