Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Milton Keynes

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Milton Keynes, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Milton Keynes leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Milton Keynes. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Milton Keynes - 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 hoping to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Milton Keynes. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Milton Keynes please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Milton Keynes

    • I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Milton Keynes.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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 management companies 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Milton Keynes from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Milton Keynes can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Milton Keynes 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 on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Milton Keynes.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Milton Keynes leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • A minority of Milton Keynes leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder 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 flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

    • What makes a Milton Keynes lease defective?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Milton Keynes is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors 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 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 can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Platform Home Loans Ltd 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 is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

    Milton Keynes Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

      What restrictions are there in the Milton Keynes Lease? How much is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? Are there any major works in the near future that will increase the service costs?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Milton Keynes