Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Willenhall:

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Willenhall leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Willenhall. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Willenhall.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Willenhall. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Willenhall who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Willenhall conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Willenhall which have about fifty years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Willenhall is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Willenhall conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Willenhall from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Willenhall can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
  • A minority of Willenhall leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Willenhall home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) 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 by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 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 premises on the market for sale.

    • What makes a Willenhall lease unacceptable for security purposes?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Willenhall is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
    • A duty to insure the building
    • A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
    • 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. Barclays , Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

    I bought a leasehold flat in Willenhall, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Willenhall with an extended lease are worth £173,000. The ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2102

    With 77 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Willenhall