Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in The Hale

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in The Hale, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to The Hale leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in The Hale. Conveyancing solicitors 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?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a roof space or cellar if appropriate.
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • 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
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in The Hale please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in The Hale

    • Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in The Hale.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

    The sensible thing to do is discharge 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.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in The Hale with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in The Hale can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? The Hale leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a The Hale home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know 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 be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £425000 garden flat in The Hale in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in The Hale?

    The Hale conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    I inherited a ground-floor 1960’s flat in The Hale. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for a lease extension?

    You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a The Hale conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a The Hale flat is 20 Orchard Court Stonegrove in June 2009. The tribunal decided that a premium of £11,040 should be payable for the new lease This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 71.55 years.

    What makes a The Hale lease problematic?

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

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Leeds Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.