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

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

Common questions relating to Fortis Green leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Fortis Green - 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to sub-let our Fortis Green basement flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Fortis Green conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Fortis Green conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Fortis Green both have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Fortis Green is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Fortis Green conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Fortis Green levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Fortis Green leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.
  • A minority of Fortis Green 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. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 lawyers.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Fortis Green conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • I am the proprietor of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Fortis Green. 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?

    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 determine the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a Fortis Green flat is 21 St Matthews Court Coppetts Road in February 2013. the applicant applied to the Tribunal for a determination of the premium payable for a lease extension pursuant to Section 48 of the Leasehold Reform (Housing and Urban Development ) Act 1993. The tribunal therefore ordered that the premium was to be £13,267. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 68 years.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green what are the most frequent lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • 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 will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and TSB all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.