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Southbourne leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Southbourne. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Southbourne - 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.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Southbourne. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Southbourne who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Southbourne conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Southbourne where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Southbourne conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 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 needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 Southbourne from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Southbourne can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Southbourne leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
  • A minority of Southbourne 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. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Southbourne home move. If a new share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • What makes a Southbourne lease unmortgageable?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Southbourne is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

    I own a 2 bed flat in Southbourne, conveyancing having been completed 10 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Southbourne with a long lease are worth £228,000. The ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2076

    You have 51 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £32,300 and £37,400 plus 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 are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Southbourne