I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Thurmaston. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Thurmaston - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Thurmaston. 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 busy estate agency in Thurmaston where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Thurmaston conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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 buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Thurmaston conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Thurmaston conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Thurmaston conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

What makes a Thurmaston lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Thurmaston is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Leeds Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Thurmaston Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

It would be wise to enquire if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Thurmaston leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Thurmaston. If you love the apartmentin Thurmaston but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice. Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Many Thurmaston leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the management company. Should you acquire the property you will have to pay this amount, usually in instalments during the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a exorbitant amount, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Thurmaston