Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Hatton

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Common questions relating to Hatton leasehold conveyancing

There are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Hatton. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

If 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Hatton.

Planning to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Hatton. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or staircase?
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Hatton please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Hatton

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Hatton. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

    Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hatton from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hatton can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • A minority of Hatton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice 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 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Hatton home move. If a new share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Completion in due on the sale of our £425000 apartment in Hatton next Monday . The management company has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hatton?

    Hatton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

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

    You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Hatton conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hatton residence is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 82.93 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Hatton