Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Stansted

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Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Stansted

I own a leasehold house in Stansted. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Stansted who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Stansted conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Stansted both have about fifty years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Stansted is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of buyers 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 premises 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 a residence 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 Stansted conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new 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've recently bought a leasehold flat in Stansted. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I work for a busy estate agent office in Stansted where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Stansted conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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 disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Stansted with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stansted can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Stansted state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
  • Some Stansted 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 bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder 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 reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Stansted conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Stansted Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      Where a Stansted lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. For most Stanstedlease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Does the lease have onerous restrictions? Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that will increase the service costs?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Stansted