Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Portslade

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

Portslade leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I own a leasehold house in Portslade. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Portslade who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Portslade conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Portslade which have approximately fifty years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Portslade is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 a residence 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 Portslade 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.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Portslade. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. It is an essential part 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).

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

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Portslade can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Portslade charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Portslade.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Portslade state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder 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 reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Portslade home move. Where a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • Completion in due on our sale of a £275000 maisonette in Portslade next week. The managing agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Portslade?

    Portslade conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    Portslade Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

      The answer will be useful as a) areas may result in problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have complete disclosure Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that could increase the maintenance fees? How much is the yearly service fee and ground rent?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Portslade