Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Poole:

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Frequently asked questions relating to Poole leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Poole. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Poole - 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.

My husband and I may need to rent out our Poole basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Poole conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Poole do not contain subletting altogether – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Poole. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Poole.

I am looking at a two flats in Poole which have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Poole is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. 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 premises 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 property 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 Poole conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Poole from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Poole can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Poole charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Poole.
  • A minority of Poole leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Poole Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

      Most Poole leasehold properties will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. If you buy the apartment you will have to pay this charge, normally quarterly during the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say around £50-£100 but you need to enquire as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds. Where a Poole lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. For most Poolelease extensions you will need to own the property for a couple of years before you are legally able to extend the lease. Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although a few managing agents in Poole require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Poole