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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Thurston, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Halifax, RBS or NatWest be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Thurston

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Thurston. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Thurston - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Thurston. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Thurston should include some of the following:

  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Thurston please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Thurston

    • Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in Thurston. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Thurston who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

    First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Thurston conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    I work for a reputable estate agency in Thurston where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Thurston conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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 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 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.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Thurston from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thurston can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Thurston state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
  • Some Thurston leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Thurston - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? You will want to find out as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will either make living at the property much easier or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of other people what they think of them. In conclusion, be sure you discover the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. Who are the managing agents?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Thurston