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

Questions and Answers: Whitland leasehold conveyancing

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Whitland. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Whitland.

Looking forward to complete next month on a studio apartment in Whitland. Conveyancing solicitors inform 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 Whitland should include some of the following:

  • Setting out your rights in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or staircase?
  • Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Whitland please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Whitland

    • I am attracted to a couple of flats in Whitland both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

    I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Whitland where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Whitland conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

    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 buyer.

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Whitland from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Whitland can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Whitland levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Whitland.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Whitland state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat 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 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 buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Whitland home move. Where a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Whitland Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

      Are there any major works on the horizon that will increase the service charges? The majority of Whitland leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced by the management company. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, usually quarterly during the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Whitland