Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in New Mills:

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Recently asked questions relating to New Mills leasehold conveyancing

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

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in New Mills - 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.

There are only 62 years remaining on my flat in New Mills. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering New Mills.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in New Mills where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local New Mills conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a New Mills conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a New Mills conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non New Mills conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in New Mills from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in New Mills can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? New Mills leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
  • Some New Mills leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 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 as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I own a ground floor flat in New Mills, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in New Mills with a long lease are worth £199,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2084

    You have 59 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £22,800 and £26,400 as well as legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in New Mills