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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to Temple Fortune leasehold conveyancing

Looking forward to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Temple Fortune. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • 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
  • What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Temple Fortune please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Temple Fortune

    • I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Temple Fortune. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Temple Fortune ?

    Most houses in Temple Fortune are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Temple Fortune in which case you should be looking for a Temple Fortune conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your lawyer will advise you fully on all the issues.

    I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Temple Fortune where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Temple Fortune conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

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

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Temple Fortune charge 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 can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Temple Fortune conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Having spent months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Temple Fortune. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price payable.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Temple Fortune residence is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune what are the most common lease defects?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Temple Fortune