Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Long Buckby:

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Recently asked questions relating to Long Buckby leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Long Buckby. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Long Buckby - 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Long Buckby. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element 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).

I work for a long established estate agent office in Long Buckby where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Long Buckby conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Long Buckby conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Long Buckby conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Long Buckby conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Long Buckby who can give a testimonial?

    • Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Long Buckby with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Long Buckby can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Long Buckby levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Long Buckby.
  • Some Long Buckby leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing 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 ahead of 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Long Buckby home move. If a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • Long Buckby Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      Where a Long Buckby lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the property. Check with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. For most Long Buckbylease extensions you would be required to have owned the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension. Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the tenants? Does the lease include onerous restrictions?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Long Buckby