Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Martlesham Heath. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Martlesham Heath - 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.

Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Martlesham Heath. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Martlesham Heath who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Martlesham Heath conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Martlesham Heath. 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. 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 agency in Martlesham Heath where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Martlesham Heath conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

What makes a Martlesham Heath lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Martlesham Heath is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• 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

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Martlesham Heath - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

For most Martlesham Heath leaseholds the outlay for major works are not built into the service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Martlesham Heath ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. Make sure you discover if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Martlesham Heath leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Martlesham Heath. If you love the apartmentin Martlesham Heath however your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced hard determination. Most Martlesham Heath leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building set by the management company. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this liability, usually quarterly accross the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Martlesham Heath