Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Cubitt Town conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Cubitt Town leasehold conveyancing

Due to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Cubitt Town. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Cubitt Town please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Cubitt Town

    • I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Cubitt Town which have in the region of fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

    There are plenty of short leases in Cubitt Town. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

    Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Cubitt Town. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

    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).

    What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Cubitt Town conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

    When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Cubitt Town conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Cubitt Town conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

    • How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • A minority of Cubitt Town leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 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 before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 prior to 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Cubitt Town home move. Where a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Cubitt Town. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

    You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Cubitt Town conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Cubitt Town premises is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case affected 3 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 101.61 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Cubitt Town