Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach:

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Leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach and throughout next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Recently asked questions relating to Sandbach leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Sandbach. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Sandbach.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Sandbach. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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. For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Sandbach please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Sandbach

    • Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Sandbach. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. 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 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 am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Sandbach where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Sandbach conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Sandbach leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you dont have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • A minority of Sandbach leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Sandbach home move. If a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Sandbach - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

      The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. The majority of Sandbach leasehold flats will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied by the freeholder. If you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this amount, normally quarterly accross the year. This can differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a significant amount, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. How much is the annual service fee and ground rent?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Sandbach