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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Sneyd Park, you will need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to Sneyd Park leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Sneyd Park. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Sneyd Park - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Sneyd Park.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly 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 management companies 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.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Sneyd Park. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Sneyd Park who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Sneyd Park conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a long established estate agency in Sneyd Park where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Sneyd Park conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Sneyd Park from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sneyd Park can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Sneyd Park leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you dont have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
  • Some Sneyd Park 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 put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I own a 2 bed flat in Sneyd Park, conveyancing having been completed in 2001. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Sneyd Park with a long lease are worth £169,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2099

    With just 73 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Sneyd Park