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Leasehold conveyancing in Umberleigh is more complex than freehold. Your home move will be smoother where you choose a lawyer with a wealth of experience of leasehold conveyancing in Umberleigh and next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Umberleigh leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I only have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Umberleigh. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Umberleigh.

Planning to exchange soon on a garden flat in Umberleigh. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Umberleigh should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Defining your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway 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 flat, or having a home office for business
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • 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 a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Umberleigh please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Umberleigh

    • I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Umberleigh which have about 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    There are plenty of short leases in Umberleigh. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Umberleigh from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Umberleigh can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
    • Some Umberleigh leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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 buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Umberleigh home move. Where a new share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • What are the frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Umberleigh properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Umberleigh is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , The Mortgage Works, and Bank of Ireland all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

    Umberleigh Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before buying

      What is the name of the managing agents? It would be a good idea to discover if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Umberleigh leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Umberleigh. If you like the apartmentin Umberleigh but your dog can’t live with you then you will be faced difficult choice. The majority of Umberleigh leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this charge, usually quarterly accross the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say around £25-£75 but you should to check it because occasionally it could be surprisingly expensive.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Umberleigh