Leasehold Conveyancing in Rushden - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Rushden

There are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Rushden. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Rushden.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Rushden. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Rushden should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.For instance, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Rushden please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Rushden

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

    In a situation 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).

    I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Rushden where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Rushden conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

    As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Rushden with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Rushden can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Rushden charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Rushden.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Rushden state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is 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 premises on the market for sale.

    • Rushden Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

      Is the freehold owned collectively by the tenants? Where a Rushden lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for a couple of years before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension. It would be prudent to find out as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters like the upkeep of the common parts. Enquire of other tenants what they think of their service. In conclusion, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the relevant party and specifically how they are spending the funds.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Rushden