Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Saltash

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Saltash, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Questions and Answers: Saltash leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have 68 years remaining on my lease in Saltash. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. 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 overseeing Saltash.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Saltash which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Saltash. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Saltash from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Saltash can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Saltash 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 accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Saltash.
  • Some Saltash leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should 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 able to meet 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord 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 property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

  • All being well we will complete our sale of a £350000 garden flat in Saltash next Wednesday . The freeholder has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Saltash?

    Saltash conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Saltash what are the most frequent lease defects?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Saltash is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. 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
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You may encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Coventry Building Society, and TSB 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 is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    I purchased a leasehold flat in Saltash, conveyancing having been completed 1996. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Saltash with over 90 years remaining are worth £210,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2078

    With only 54 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £30,400 and £35,200 as well as costs.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Saltash