Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in North Plymouth

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Any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in North Plymouth, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Questions and Answers: North Plymouth leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in North Plymouth. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in North Plymouth - 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.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in North Plymouth. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in North Plymouth should include some of the following:

  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in North Plymouth please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in North Plymouth

    • My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in North Plymouth. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in North Plymouth who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a North Plymouth conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold house in North Plymouth. Am I liable to pay 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. 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).

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North Plymouth from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in North Plymouth can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in North Plymouth levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North Plymouth.
  • A minority of North Plymouth leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase 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 settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a North Plymouth home move. If a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • I own a split level flat in North Plymouth, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in North Plymouth with over 90 years remaining are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2078

    With only 53 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £27,600 and £31,800 plus legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in North Plymouth