Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Topsham:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Topsham, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or Bradford & Bingley be sure to choose a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Examples of recent questions relating to leasehold conveyancing in Topsham

I only have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Topsham. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Topsham.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Topsham. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Topsham ?

Most houses in Topsham are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Topsham in which case you should be shopping around for a Topsham conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Topsham. Am I liable to pay 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 ensure 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 reputable estate agent office in Topsham where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Topsham conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Topsham from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Topsham 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 needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Topsham levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Topsham.
  • A minority of Topsham 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. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Topsham home move. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

    • Topsham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

      Where a Topsham lease has less than 80 years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Topshamlease extensions you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the residence for 24 months before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension. Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will increase the maintenance charges? This information is helpful as a) areas can result in problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the tenants have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to have all the details

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Topsham