Guaranteed fixed fees for Leasehold Conveyancing in Tavistock

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Leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock

My husband and I may need to let out our Tavistock garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Tavistock conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your last Tavistock conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a basement flat in Tavistock. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report 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 Tavistock should include some of the following:

  • You should receive a copy of the lease
  • How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • The physical extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but may incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.
  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Tavistock please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Tavistock

    • I've recently bought a leasehold property in Tavistock. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

    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. However, 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 am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Tavistock where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Tavistock conveyancing firms. Could you confirm 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Tavistock levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock.
  • Some Tavistock 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 obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Tavistock home move. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Tavistock - Sample of Queries before buying

      It is important to be aware if a new roof is being installed or some other major work is due shortly to be shared by the leasehold owners and will materially impact the level of the service charges or necessitate a one time invoice. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? The answer will be important as a) areas can cause problems for the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have all the details

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Tavistock