Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Polegate

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Polegate, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Sample questions relating to Polegate leasehold conveyancing

Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Polegate. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Polegate should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • 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 obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Polegate please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Polegate

    • Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Polegate.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I've recently bought a leasehold house in Polegate. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

    In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

    If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Polegate from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Polegate can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Polegate levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have 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 frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Polegate.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Polegate leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • What makes a Polegate lease problematic?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Polegate is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    Polegate Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

      Best to be warned whether a new roof is being installed or some other major work is coming up that will be shared between the tenants and could well materially increase the the maintenance fees or result in a specific payment. Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? Where a Polegate lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Polegate