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Sample questions relating to Totterdown leasehold conveyancing

There are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Totterdown. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. For most situations a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Totterdown.

Expecting to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Totterdown. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Setting out your rights in relation to common areas in the block.For example, does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or working from home
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Totterdown please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Totterdown

    • What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Totterdown conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Totterdown conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Totterdown conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

    • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Totterdown from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Totterdown can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Totterdown charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Totterdown.
  • A minority of Totterdown leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Totterdown conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Completion in due on the sale of our £450000 flat in Totterdown in just under a week. The management company has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Totterdown?

    Totterdown conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often necessitates the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be content to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

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

      How long is the Lease? Many Totterdown leasehold apartments will have a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the landlord. If you buy the property you will have to pay this amount, normally periodically throughout the year. This may differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, although there some managing agents in Totterdown ask leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for larger works.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Totterdown