I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Windermere. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Windermere - 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.

I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Windermere. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your previous Windermere conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have 68 years remaining on my lease in Windermere. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order 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 landlord. In some cases a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Windermere.

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

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Windermere conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Windermere conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

How many lease extensions has the firm completed in Windermere in the last twenty four months?

We expect to complete the sale of our £200000 maisonette in Windermere in 10 days. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Windermere?

For most leasehold sales in Windermere conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Windermere
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Windermere leasehold premises is £350. For Windermere conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide the information.

Windermere Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before buying

Many Windermere leasehold properties will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Where you purchase the flat you will have to meet this liability, usually in instalments throughout the year. This could be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. It would be prudent to find out if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Windermere. If you love the propertyin Windermere but your dog can’t live with you then you have a very difficult decision. If a Windermere lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Windermerelease extensions you will be required to have been the owner of the premises for a couple of years before you are entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Windermere