I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Marple. 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 Marple - 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 am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Marple which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Marple where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Marple conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Marple from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Marple can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Some Marple leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should 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 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 purchasers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled 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 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 unsettled.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Marple home move. If a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £325000 maisonette in Marple next week. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Marple?

For most leasehold sales in Marple conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Marple
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Marple leasehold property is £350. For Marple conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

I invested in buying a garden flat in Marple, conveyancing having been completed 8 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Marple with an extended lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2097

With just 72 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Marple