Quality lawyers for Leasehold Conveyancing in Loughborough

Get a Quote

Whether you are buying or selling leasehold flat in Loughborough, our panel of leasehold conveyancing experts will help you move with as little stress as possible. Find a Loughborough conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Loughborough leasehold conveyancing

I would like to let out my leasehold flat in Loughborough. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Loughborough do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Loughborough. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence 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 vesting order request to the County Court covering Loughborough.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Loughborough which have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Loughborough from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Loughborough can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • Many landlords or managing agents in Loughborough charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Loughborough.
  • Some Loughborough leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Loughborough conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

    • When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Loughborough what are the most frequent lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Loughborough. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester 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 grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

    I inherited a studio flat in Loughborough, conveyancing formalities finalised in 1996. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Loughborough with a long lease are worth £182,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2104

    You have 78 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Loughborough