I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Penn and Ettingshall. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Penn and Ettingshall - 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.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Penn and Ettingshall garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Penn and Ettingshall conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Penn and Ettingshall do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Penn and Ettingshall both have about forty five years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Penn and Ettingshall is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. For most buyers 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 Penn and Ettingshall 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 Penn and Ettingshall with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Penn and Ettingshall can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• Some Penn and Ettingshall leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 buyers or their solicitors.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £225000 apartment in Penn and Ettingshall on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Penn and Ettingshall?

Penn and Ettingshall conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not necessitates the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

Penn and Ettingshall Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the lessees enjoy control and even though a managing agent is frequently employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. It would be wise to investigate if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. For instance it is fairly common in Penn and Ettingshall leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Penn and Ettingshall. If you love the apartmentin Penn and Ettingshall yet your dog can’t live with you then you will be faced hard decision. For most Penn and Ettingshall leaseholds the outlay for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Penn and Ettingshall ask leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Penn and Ettingshall