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

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While any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Top Five Questions relating to Bexleyheath leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Bexleyheath - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Bexleyheath. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or working from home
  • You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • 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 Bexleyheath please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Bexleyheath

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Bexleyheath charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Bexleyheath leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • A minority of Bexleyheath leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if 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 premises on the market for sale.

    • If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £300000 garden flat in Bexleyheath next week. The management company has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bexleyheath?

    Bexleyheath conveyancing on leasehold flats often necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

    We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Bexleyheath. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bexleyheath property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired term was 76 years.

    What makes a Bexleyheath lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bexleyheath