Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate:

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Marks Gate leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

There are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Marks Gate. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Marks Gate.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Marks Gate.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I've found a house that seems to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Marks Gate. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Marks Gate ?

The majority of houses in Marks Gate are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Marks Gate in which case you should be shopping around for a Marks Gate conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Marks Gate leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • A minority of Marks Gate leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • We expect to complete our sale of a £500000 garden flat in Marks Gate next week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Marks Gate?

    Marks Gate conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    Having spent months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Marks Gate. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to decide the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Marks Gate flat is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 61.36 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Marks Gate