Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Mold. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Mold - 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to sub-let our Mold 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Mold conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Mold do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Mold both have in the region of forty five years left 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 property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often 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 difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Mold where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Mold conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £125000 apartment in Mold next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Mold?

Mold conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily results in administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Mold
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Mold leasehold premises is £350. For Mold 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 obliged to provide answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Mold - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Please note if it is less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the premises for two years in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? This information is important as a) areas may result in problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the tenants have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to know about it

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mold