Leasehold Conveyancing in Taffs Well - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

Get a Quote

While any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Taffs Well, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Top Five Questions relating to Taffs Well leasehold conveyancing

My husband and I may need to sub-let our Taffs Well garden flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Taffs Well conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Taffs Well do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years remaining on my lease in Taffs Well. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Taffs Well.

Planning to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Taffs Well. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Taffs Well should include some of the following:

  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Taffs Well please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Taffs Well

    • I work for a busy estate agent office in Taffs Well where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Taffs Well conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 Taffs Well from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Taffs Well can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Taffs Well levy fees 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 information sought on or before finding 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 delay in leasehold conveyancing in Taffs Well.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Taffs Well state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
  • Some Taffs Well leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Taffs Well conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • I am the registered owner of a studio flat in Taffs Well, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Taffs Well with a long lease are worth £231,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2096

    You have 70 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other 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 Taffs Well