I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Winchester. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Winchester - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Winchester garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Winchester conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Winchester conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Winchester where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Winchester conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Winchester conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Winchester conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Winchester conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Winchester in the last twenty four months?

All being well we will complete our sale of a £350000 maisonette in Winchester in six days. The managing agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Winchester?

Winchester conveyancing on leasehold apartments often necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Winchester - Sample of Queries before buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? In the main the cost for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Winchester obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. You should be aware that where the lease has less than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Winchesterlease extensions you would need to own the residence for two years before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Winchester