Quality lawyers for Leasehold Conveyancing in Long Eaton

Get a Quote

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Long Eaton, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, RBS or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Long Eaton leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Long Eaton. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Long Eaton - 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 wish to sublet my leasehold apartment in Long Eaton. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Long Eaton do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Long Eaton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Long Eaton conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Long Eaton conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Long Eaton conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

  • How many lease extensions have they conducted in Long Eaton in the last 12 months?
  • What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Long Eaton with the aim of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Long Eaton can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Long Eaton state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
  • Some Long Eaton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Long Eaton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

      For most Long Eaton leaseholds the outlay for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Long Eaton require tenants to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Long Eaton