Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Southport:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Southport, you will need to chose a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Sample questions relating to Southport leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Southport. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Southport ?

Most houses in Southport are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Southport so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Southport conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

I am attracted to a two flats in Southport both have about fifty years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Southport is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. For most purchasers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Southport conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Southport where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Southport conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Southport from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Southport can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Southport charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Southport.
  • A minority of Southport leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Southport conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

    • Are there common deficiencies that you come across in leases for Southport properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Southport is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Chelsea Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    I purchased a split level flat in Southport, conveyancing formalities finalised 1997. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Southport with an extended lease are worth £208,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2103

    With only 79 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Southport