Leasehold Conveyancing in Burroughs, The - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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

Questions and Answers: Burroughs, The leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Burroughs, The. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Burroughs, The - 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.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Burroughs, The. 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 lessee 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Burroughs, The where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Burroughs, The conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Burroughs, The from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Burroughs, The can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Burroughs, The charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Burroughs, The.
  • A minority of Burroughs, The leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I am the leaseholder of a basement flat in Burroughs, The. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?

    Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Burroughs, The conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Burroughs, The residence is 1 & 1A Sunningfields Crescent in September 2013. The Tribunals calculation of the amount to be paid into court in respect of the value of the freehold interest is £11,997 in respect of Flat 1 and £15,781 in respect of Flat 1A for a total of £27,778. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71.5 years.

    In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Burroughs, The what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Burroughs, The. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
    • 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 could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Aldermore all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.