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

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Leasehold conveyancing in Verwood 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 Verwood and across next step up in loc. The lawyers we recommend have been approved by your lender so use our search tool to check.

Verwood leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Verwood. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Verwood - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I only have 62 years remaining on my flat in Verwood. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Verwood.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Verwood where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Verwood conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Verwood with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Verwood can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Verwood state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • Some Verwood leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should 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 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled 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 need to swallow your pride and 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 prior to 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 over rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Verwood home move. Where a new share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Completion in due on the sale of our £325000 maisonette in Verwood in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Verwood?

    Verwood conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the buyer’s lawyer sending enquiries 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 at liberty invoice a reasonable charge 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 situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    Verwood Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

      How is the lease structured? The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants benefit from control and although a managing agent is often employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. If a Verwood lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the flat. Check with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Verwood