Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Plymstock:

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Plymstock leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Plymstock. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or working from home
  • 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 For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Plymstock please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Plymstock

    • I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Plymstock. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Plymstock ?

    Most houses in Plymstock are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Plymstock so you should seriously consider looking for a Plymstock conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.

    Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Plymstock. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Plymstock who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

    The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Plymstock conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Plymstock where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Plymstock conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Plymstock with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Plymstock can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Plymstock state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
  • A minority of Plymstock leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers 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 the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is 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 property on the market for sale.

    • I acquired a 2 bed flat in Plymstock, conveyancing having been completed in 2011. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Plymstock with an extended lease are worth £180,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2102

    With just 79 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £7,600 and £8,800 plus costs.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Plymstock