Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Temple Fortune

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

Top Five Questions relating to Temple Fortune leasehold conveyancing

I only have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Temple Fortune. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Temple Fortune.

Planning to exchange soon on a basement flat in Temple Fortune. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but might incorporate a loft or cellar if applicable.
  • Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Temple Fortune please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Temple Fortune

    • I own a leasehold house in Temple Fortune. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Temple Fortune who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

    The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Temple Fortune conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Temple Fortune. 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 lessee 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Temple Fortune charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought 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 reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet 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 ahead of 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 present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Temple Fortune conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where 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 wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Temple Fortune. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

    Where there is a missing landlord 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 make a decision on the amount due.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Temple Fortune premises 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 related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Temple Fortune