Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells

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Common questions relating to Royal Tunbridge Wells leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my lease in Royal Tunbridge Wells. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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).

I work for a busy estate agent office in Royal Tunbridge Wells where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Royal Tunbridge Wells conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Royal Tunbridge Wells conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Royal Tunbridge Wells conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Royal Tunbridge Wells conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

  • How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Royal Tunbridge Wells can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Royal Tunbridge Wells leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Royal Tunbridge Wells home move. Where a new share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Royal Tunbridge Wells, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2008. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Royal Tunbridge Wells with over 90 years remaining are worth £200,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2103

    With 77 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Royal Tunbridge Wells