Leasehold Conveyancing in New Romney - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in New Romney, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a New Romney conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

New Romney leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am intending to rent out my leasehold flat in New Romney. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in New Romney do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in New Romney.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 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.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in New Romney which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in New Romney is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 property 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 premises 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 New Romney conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 any new 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in New Romney with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in New Romney can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in New Romney charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in New Romney.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in New Romney state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
  • Some New Romney leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

    • Are there common defects that you come across in leases for New Romney properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in New Romney. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed 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, forcing the buyer to pull out.

    New Romney Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

      Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability? Where a New Romney lease has fewer than 80 years it will impact the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most New Romneylease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the property for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease. Who is in charge of the block?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in New Romney