Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Saltney:

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Saltney, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Saltney conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Saltney leasehold conveyancing

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Saltney. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Saltney please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Saltney

  • Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Saltney. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Saltney who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

    First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Saltney conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

    I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Saltney both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Saltney is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat 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 Saltney 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 any new 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.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Saltney from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Saltney can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Saltney levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Saltney.
  • A minority of Saltney leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

  • All being well we will complete the disposal of our £300000 apartment in Saltney in 5 days. The managing agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Saltney?

    Saltney conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Saltney - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

      The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. How much is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? Where a Saltney lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for 24 months before you are entitled to extend the lease.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Saltney