Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Stourbridge
Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Stourbridge garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Stourbridge conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
Notwithstanding that your previous Stourbridge conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.
There are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Stourbridge. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?
On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Stourbridge.
Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Stourbridge. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Stourbridge should include some of the following:
- You should be sent a copy of the lease
I own a leasehold flat in Stourbridge. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Stourbridge who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Stourbridge conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Stourbridge which have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area
I own a 2 bed flat in Stourbridge, conveyancing formalities finalised 2000. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Stourbridge with an extended lease are worth £234,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2078
With 53 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing 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 want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
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