Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Seaford:

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Seaford leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my lease in Seaford. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Seaford.

I own a leasehold flat in Seaford. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Seaford who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Seaford conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Seaford. 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 owner 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. A critical element 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Seaford conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Seaford conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Seaford conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

  • How many lease extensions has the firm completed in Seaford in the last year?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

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

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Seaford can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
    • A minority of Seaford leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Seaford home move. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage 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 Seaford - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      The answer will be helpful as a) areas can result in problems in the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to have full disclosure Plenty Seaford leasehold properties will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced by the freeholder. If you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this amount, usually quarterly accross the year. This could be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. You should want to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they will either make living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. In conclusion, be sure you know the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending that money.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Seaford