Morganstown leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Morganstown. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Morganstown - 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.
Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Morganstown basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Morganstown conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
The lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Morganstown do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.
I only have 62 years left on my lease in Morganstown. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Morganstown.
Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Morganstown. 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 owner 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 am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Morganstown where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Morganstown conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done 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 buyer.
I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in Morganstown, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2004. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Morganstown with over 90 years remaining are worth £267,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2077
With only 52 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £34,200 and £39,600 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
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