Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in March:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in March, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or Nationwide make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in March

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in March. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in March - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 have just started marketing my 2 bed flat in March.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice 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 managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am looking at a two apartments in March which have in the region of fifty years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise 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 such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in March where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local March conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in March with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in March can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? March leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • A minority of March leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry 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 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in March - A selection of Queries before buying

      Many March leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the landlord. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this liability, usually quarterly during the year. This could differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large figure, say around £25-£75 but you should to check as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that could add a premium to the maintenance costs? For many March leaseholds the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in March obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in March