I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Poole. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Poole - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to sub-let our Poole garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Poole conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Poole do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see 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.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Poole. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Poole conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Poole conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Poole conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Poole in the last year?

We expect to complete our sale of a £225000 flat in Poole in six days. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Poole?

Poole conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times involves fees being invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Poole
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Poole leasehold property is £350. For Poole conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

Poole Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

You will want to find out as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day issues like the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of other tenants what they think of their service. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that the service charges are due to the appropriate party and precisely what it includes. You should be aware if it is no more than 80 years it will affect the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank 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 you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Poolelease extensions you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the residence for a couple of years before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Poole. If you like the propertyin Poole yet your cat can’t live with you then you have a very hard decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Poole