Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Shillington:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Shillington, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, RBS or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Shillington conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Shillington leasehold conveyancing

Due to complete next month on a studio apartment in Shillington. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
  • You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • 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
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Shillington please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Shillington

    • Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Shillington.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

    It best that you discharge the invoice 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Shillington. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

    Most houses in Shillington are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Shillington in which case you should be looking for a Shillington conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

    I work for a busy estate agent office in Shillington where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Shillington conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have 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.

    An alternative approach is 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.

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Shillington with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shillington can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • Many freeholders or managing agents in Shillington levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shillington.
  • A minority of Shillington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Shillington conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Shillington - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

      Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block? How many years are left on the lease? How much is the ground rent and service charge?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Shillington