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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Trelogan, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Lloyds, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Common questions relating to Trelogan leasehold conveyancing

I want to let out my leasehold apartment in Trelogan. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Trelogan conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Trelogan. 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. It is an essential part 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 long established estate agent office in Trelogan where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Trelogan conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Trelogan conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Trelogan conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Trelogan conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

  • How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
  • What are the costs for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Trelogan with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Trelogan can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Trelogan state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. If you fail to have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
  • Some Trelogan leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Trelogan home move. Where a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • I purchased a studio flat in Trelogan, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Trelogan with over 90 years remaining are worth £184,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2100

    You have 76 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Trelogan