Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Woburn Sands. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Woburn Sands - 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.

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Woburn Sands ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Woburn Sands conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Woburn Sands do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Due to complete next month on a basement flat in Woburn Sands. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

I own a leasehold house in Woburn Sands. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Woburn Sands who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Woburn Sands conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Woburn Sands which have about 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Woburn Sands is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. For most purchasers and banks, leases with less than 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 property 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 Woburn Sands conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 the agreed 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.

Woburn Sands Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Generally speaking the cost for major works are not included within service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Woburn Sands obliged tenants to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. What restrictions are contained in the Woburn Sands Lease? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Woburn Sands