Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Welton:

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Welton, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Welton leasehold conveyancing Example Support Desk Enquiries

My wife and I may need to let out our Welton ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Welton conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Welton do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Welton. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • 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
  • 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
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Welton please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Welton

    • I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Welton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

    The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Welton where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Welton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

    Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

    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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Welton with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Welton can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • The majority landlords or managing agents in Welton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Welton.
  • Some Welton 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Welton Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

      Please note that where the lease has less than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be be obliged to have owned the premises for a couple of years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? This information is helpful as a) areas may cause problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will want to have all the details

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Welton