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

Get a Quote

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Coombe, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Coombe conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Coombe leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Coombe. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Coombe.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Coombe.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Coombe. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Coombe who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Coombe conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Coombe from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • Many landlords or managing agents in Coombe levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe.
  • A minority of Coombe leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 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 Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Coombe home move. If a reissued share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Following years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Coombe. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Coombe conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Coombe premises is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case related to 1 flat.

    What makes a Coombe lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Coombe is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that 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 premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • 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

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Alliance & Leicester 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 defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.