Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Topsham:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Topsham, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, Birmingham Midshires or Nationwide be sure to find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Topsham conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to Topsham leasehold conveyancing

Due to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Topsham. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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 For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Topsham please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Topsham

    • I've recently bought a leasehold house in Topsham. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

    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. 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 work for a busy estate agency in Topsham where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Topsham conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 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 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 purchaser.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Topsham from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion 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 ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Topsham charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Topsham.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Topsham state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Topsham conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Topsham what are the most common lease defects?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Topsham. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair 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. HSBC Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Topsham - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      How is the lease structured? What prohibitions are there in the Topsham Lease? What is the yearly service fee and ground rent?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Topsham