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

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in West Thurrock, you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Top Five Questions relating to West Thurrock leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in West Thurrock. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application 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 have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing West Thurrock.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in West Thurrock which have about forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in West Thurrock. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold house in West Thurrock. 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 be sure 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in West Thurrock from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in West Thurrock can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in West Thurrock charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in West Thurrock.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a West Thurrock home move. If a new share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • After years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Thurrock. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

    Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a West Thurrock conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Thurrock flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.

    What makes a West Thurrock lease problematic?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in West Thurrock. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • Insurance obligations
    • Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
    • Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

    You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Virgin Money, and TSB 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.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in West Thurrock