Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Winchelsea

Get a Quote

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Winchelsea, you will need to chose a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, RBS or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Feel free to use our search tool

Recently asked questions relating to Winchelsea leasehold conveyancing

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Winchelsea. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
  • 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
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Winchelsea please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Winchelsea

    • Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold flat in Winchelsea. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Winchelsea who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

    The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Winchelsea conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

    Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Winchelsea. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. 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).

    I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Winchelsea where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Winchelsea conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

    When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Winchelsea what are the most frequent lease problems?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Winchelsea. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. 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 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

    You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Coventry Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions 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 purchaser to pull out.

    Leasehold Conveyancing in Winchelsea - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

      Be sure to discover if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance it is fairly common in Winchelsea leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Winchelsea. If you like the flatin Winchelsea yet your dog is not allowed to move with you then you have a very hard decision. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? Can you tell me if there are any major works in the near future that could increase the maintenance costs?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Winchelsea