Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Cudham:

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

Cudham leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Cudham. 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 99.9% are in Cudham - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 only have 68 years remaining on my lease in Cudham. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Cudham.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Cudham where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Cudham conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cudham from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cudham can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Cudham charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cudham.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Cudham home move. Where a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider 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 the disposal of our £350000 garden flat in Cudham on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Cudham?

    Cudham conveyancing on leasehold flats often necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Cudham conveyancing firm to assist?

    if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Cudham flat is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 50.57 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Cudham