Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Snowdonia:

Get a Quote

Looking for a solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Snowdonia on your lender’s panel? Use our search tool to find leading local Snowdonia conveyancing practitioners or national solicitors on your lender’s panel .

Common questions relating to Snowdonia leasehold conveyancing

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

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Snowdonia - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Snowdonia.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – 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.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Snowdonia. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Snowdonia are freehold rather than 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. We note that you are buying in Snowdonia so you should seriously consider looking for a Snowdonia conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Snowdonia both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Snowdonia. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Snowdonia from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Snowdonia can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Snowdonia levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Snowdonia.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Snowdonia leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Snowdonia, conveyancing was carried out 1999. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Snowdonia with a long lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2092

    You have 66 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Snowdonia