Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Ongar:

Get a Quote

Looking for a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Ongar on your lender’s panel? Use our search tool to find leading local Ongar conveyancing lawyers or national solicitors on your lender’s panel .

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Ongar

I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Ongar. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Some leases for properties in Ongar do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Ongar. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Ongar please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Ongar

    • I am looking at a couple of apartments in Ongar both have approximately fifty years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

    There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Ongar is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 Ongar 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 the agreed 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Ongar from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ongar can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Ongar levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ongar.
  • Some Ongar leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned 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 resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Ongar what are the most frequent lease problems?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Ongar. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • 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

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    Ongar Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

      If a Ongar 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 content with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension. How is the lease structured? Please inform me if there are any major works on the horizon that will likely increase the service charges?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Ongar