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Wickersley leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Due to exchange soon on a garden flat in Wickersley. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • 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
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Wickersley please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Wickersley

    • Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Wickersley.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice 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 until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I own a leasehold house in Wickersley. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Wickersley who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

    First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Wickersley conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

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

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wickersley can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • The majority landlords or Management Companies in Wickersley levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wickersley.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Wickersley leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property 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 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Wickersley conveyancing deal. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £275000 flat in Wickersley on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Wickersley?

    Wickersley conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

    Wickersley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      The majority of Wickersley leasehold flats will have a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Where you buy the property you will have to pay this contribution, usually periodically during the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a large sum, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. What restrictions are there in the Wickersley Lease? Where a Wickersley lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Wickersley