Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Woodside:

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Recently asked questions relating to Woodside leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Woodside. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Woodside - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I would like to rent out my leasehold flat in Woodside. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Notwithstanding that your last Woodside conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Due to exchange soon on a garden flat in Woodside. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • 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
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Woodside please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Woodside

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Woodside. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

    Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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).

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Woodside from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Woodside can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Woodside levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Woodside.
  • A minority of Woodside leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Woodside home move. If a new share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • Having spent years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Woodside. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

    Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Woodside conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Woodside premises is Ground Floor Flat 14 Lodge Road in October 2013. the tribunal held that the price payable for the acquisition of the extended lease of the property should be £12,590 .00 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.46 years.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Woodside