Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Mersea Island:

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Mersea Island leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Mersea Island. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Mersea Island - 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 only have 72 years unexpired on my flat in Mersea Island. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Mersea Island.

Due to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Mersea Island. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Mersea Island should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Mersea Island please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Mersea Island

    • I own a leasehold house in Mersea Island. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Mersea Island who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Mersea Island conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    What makes a Mersea Island lease unacceptable for security purposes?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Mersea Island is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
    • 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 problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express requirements 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 provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

    I inherited a 2 bed flat in Mersea Island, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Mersea Island with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2078

    With just 53 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £33,300 and £38,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" 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 a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Mersea Island