Top Five Questions relating to The Ridgeway leasehold conveyancing
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in The Ridgeway. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in The Ridgeway ?
Most houses in The Ridgeway are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in The Ridgeway in which case you should be shopping around for a The Ridgeway conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in The Ridgeway. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in The Ridgeway who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a The Ridgeway conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in The Ridgeway which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?
A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise 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 properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area
I work for a busy estate agent office in The Ridgeway where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local The Ridgeway conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify 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 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 for a lease extension. 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 buyer.
All being well we will complete the disposal of our £425000 apartment in The Ridgeway on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in The Ridgeway?
For most leasehold sales in The Ridgeway conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
- Addressing pre-contract enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in The Ridgeway
- Supplying insurance information
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
After months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in The Ridgeway. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a The Ridgeway conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a The Ridgeway premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired term was 76 years.
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