Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Nantwich:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Nantwich, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Nantwich leasehold conveyancing

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Nantwich.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice 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 managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I own a leasehold house in Nantwich. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Nantwich who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Nantwich conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Nantwich both have about 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Nantwich is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Nantwich conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Nantwich where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Nantwich conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer 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 has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Nantwich with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Nantwich can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Nantwich levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Nantwich.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Nantwich leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Nantwich - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      Who are the managing agents? It would be wise to find out as much as possible regarding the company managing the building as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues like the upkeep of the common parts. Ask other tenants whether they are happy with them. On a final note, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. Generally speaking the cost for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Nantwich ask tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Nantwich