Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Northwich. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

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

I am intending to let out my leasehold apartment in Northwich. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your last Northwich conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Northwich. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Northwich.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Northwich.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the service charge 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 am employed by a long established estate agent office in Northwich where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Northwich conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

Northwich Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Northwich obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for larger works. Best to be warned if redecorating or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared by the leasehold owners and may well materially increase the the maintenance costs or result in a one off payment. This question is important as a) areas can result in problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the running of the building you will want to know about it

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Lease Extensions in Northwich