Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Penzance:

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Leasehold conveyancing in Penzance is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Penzance and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Sample questions relating to Penzance leasehold conveyancing

I only have Fifty years left on my lease in Penzance. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Penzance.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Penzance.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Penzance which have approximately fifty years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Penzance with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Penzance can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • Some Penzance 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. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Penzance conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £225000 flat in Penzance on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Penzance?

    Penzance conveyancing on leasehold flats often necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

    Penzance Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

      On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Penzance require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. It is important to be aware whether a new roof is being put on or some other significant cost is pending to be shared by the leaseholders and will materially impact the level of the service fees or necessitate a specific invoice. How much is the ground rent and service charge?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Penzance