Top Five Questions relating to Saltney leasehold conveyancing
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Saltney. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Saltney - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Saltney. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. 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:
- You should receive a copy of the lease
I own a leasehold house in Saltney. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Saltney who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?
First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Saltney conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Saltney. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 long established estate agency in Saltney where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Saltney conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
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.
Saltney Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying
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Who manages the block?
Be sure to investigate if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example it is reasonably common in Saltney leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Saltney. If you love the apartmentin Saltney however your dog can’t move with you then you have a very difficult compromise.
Best to be warned whether fixing the lift or some other major work is pending to be shared by the leaseholders and will dramatically impact the level of the service fees or require a one time payment.
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