Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Newtown:

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Top Five Questions relating to Newtown leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to exchange soon on a basement flat in Newtown. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Newtown should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • The physical extent of the demise. This will be the property itself but might include a loft or cellar if appropriate.
  • Setting out your rights in relation to common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Newtown please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Newtown

    • I've recently bought a leasehold house in Newtown. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    In a situation 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. It is an essential part 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 employed by a reputable estate agent office in Newtown where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Newtown conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Newtown from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Newtown can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Newtown leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • A minority of Newtown leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £450000 garden flat in Newtown on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Newtown?

    Newtown conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    I own a 1st floor flat in Newtown, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Newtown with a long lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2093

    With 67 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Newtown