Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Olney

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Olney, you will need to chose a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Olney conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Olney leasehold conveyancing

I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Olney. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say 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. The majority of leases in Olney do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

There are only 68 years left on my flat in Olney. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Olney.

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Olney.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Olney with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Olney can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Olney state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.
  • A minority of Olney leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

  • What makes a Olney lease problematic?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Olney. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    I bought a ground floor flat in Olney, conveyancing formalities finalised 2011. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Olney with over 90 years remaining are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2078

    With only 53 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Olney