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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Sea Mills, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, Yorkshire Building Society or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Sea Mills conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Sea Mills leasehold conveyancing

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Sea Mills. I now want 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 submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Sea Mills.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Sea Mills. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • 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
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Sea Mills please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Sea Mills

    • I’m about to sell my basement flat in Sea Mills.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    I've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Sea Mills. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Sea Mills ?

    Most houses in Sea Mills are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Sea Mills so you should seriously consider looking for a Sea Mills conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor should report to you on the legal implications.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Sea Mills from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sea Mills can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • Many freeholders or managing agents in Sea Mills charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Sea Mills.
  • Some Sea Mills 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 financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore essential 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 home on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Sea Mills - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? Make sure you discover if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Sea Mills. If you like the flatin Sea Mills however your dog can’t move with you then you will be faced hard decision.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Sea Mills