Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Stilton:

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Frequently asked questions relating to Stilton leasehold conveyancing

Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Stilton garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Stilton conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Stilton do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Stilton both have approximately fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Stilton. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Stilton where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Stilton conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stilton from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stilton can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Stilton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information 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 common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stilton.
  • A minority of Stilton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat 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 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Stilton conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • What are the common defects that you encounter in leases for Stilton properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Stilton. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

    I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Stilton, conveyancing was carried out 1999. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Stilton with a long lease are worth £243,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2076

    You have 51 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £35,200 and £40,600 plus 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 without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Stilton