Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Shildon:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Shildon, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Halifax, Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Shildon conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Common questions relating to Shildon leasehold conveyancing

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Shildon.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge 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 unless 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 appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Shildon. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Shildon are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Shildon so you should seriously consider looking for a Shildon conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer will advise you fully on all the issues.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Shildon. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Shildon who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Shildon conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Shildon where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Shildon conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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 buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Shildon from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shildon can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Shildon leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
  • Some Shildon leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Shildon home move. If a duplicate share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • Shildon Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

      The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is frequently employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Please note if it is no more than eighty years it will affect the value of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for a couple of years before you are eligible to carry out a lease extension. Are there any major works in the near future that could add a premium to the service charges?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Shildon