Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in North End

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in North End, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or NatWest be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a North End conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to North End leasehold conveyancing

I only have 68 years left on my lease in North End. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering North End.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in North End. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in North End should include some of the following:

  • Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in North End please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in North End

    • I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in North End.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

    It best that you clear the invoice 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 managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a North End conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

    When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a North End conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non North End conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
  • How many lease extensions have they conducted in North End in the last 12 months?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North End from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in North End can be reduced if you get in touch 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’ representatives.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? North End leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • Some North End leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 ahead of 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 clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a North End home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • After years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in North End. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the premium.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a North End property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in North End