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

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Leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Top Five Questions relating to Leamouth leasehold conveyancing

Expecting to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Leamouth. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • 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 details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Leamouth please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Leamouth

    • My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Leamouth. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Leamouth who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Leamouth conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    I am looking at a two flats in Leamouth both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

    A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

    Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Leamouth. 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 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 ensure 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).

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • Many freeholders or managing agents in Leamouth 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 as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth.
  • Some Leamouth leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Leamouth conveyancing firm to help?

    Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Leamouth conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Leamouth property is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.77 years.