Top Five Questions relating to Purfleet leasehold conveyancing
I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Purfleet. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?
A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Purfleet do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.
Looking forward to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Purfleet. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Purfleet should include some of the following:
- You should be sent a copy of the lease
Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Purfleet. 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 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).
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Purfleet with the aim of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Purfleet can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
- Many landlords or Management Companies in Purfleet 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 information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Purfleet.
Following months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Purfleet. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Purfleet property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case was in relation to 13 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.
What are the frequently found defects that you come across in leases for Purfleet properties?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Purfleet. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
- A provision to repair to or maintain parts 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 have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Virgin Money, 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.
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