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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in West Malling, you will need to chose a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Clydesdale , RBS or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Questions and Answers: West Malling leasehold conveyancing

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in West Malling. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in West Malling who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a West Malling conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in West Malling. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in West Malling with the intention of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in West Malling can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
  • Many freeholders or managing agents in West Malling levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. 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 common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Malling.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? West Malling leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is 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 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £350000 apartment in West Malling in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in West Malling?

    West Malling conveyancing on leasehold apartments often involves the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    What makes a West Malling lease problematic?

    Leasehold conveyancing in West Malling is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

    A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in West Malling - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

      If a West Malling lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the property for 24 months before you are entitled to extend the lease. How much is the ground rent and service charge? You should want to find out as much as you can about the company managing the block as they will either make your life much simpler or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Don't be shy to ask other tenants what they think of them. In conclusion, be sure you know the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending the funds.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in West Malling