Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in St Columb:

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Recently asked questions relating to St Columb leasehold conveyancing

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our St Columb 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a St Columb conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in St Columb do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in St Columb. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in St Columb who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a St Columb conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in St Columb where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local St Columb conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 has to be done 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Columb with the intention of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Columb can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
  • The majority landlords or managing agents in St Columb levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Columb.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? St Columb leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you dont have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
  • A minority of St Columb leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. 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. The 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is 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 discharge 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 better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

  • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £450000 maisonette in St Columb in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in St Columb?

    St Columb conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates fees being invoiced by management companies :

    • Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
    • Where consent is required before sale in St Columb
    • Copies of the building insurance and schedule
    • Deeds of covenant upon sale
    • Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
    Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for St Columb leasehold property is £350. For St Columb conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply answers.

    St Columb Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

      The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the tenants? In the main the outlay for major works are not built into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in St Columb ask tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in St Columb