Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Wokingham:

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Wokingham, you will need to appoint a conveyancing lawyer with leasehold experience. Whether your lender is to be Lloyds, RBS or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their approved list. Find a Wokingham conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Wokingham leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Wokingham. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Wokingham - 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.

Planning to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Wokingham. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Wokingham should include some of the following:

  • The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home
  • Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
  • 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 For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Wokingham please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Wokingham

  • I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Wokingham where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Wokingham conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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 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.

    Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Wokingham from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wokingham can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Wokingham state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Wokingham home move. If a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

  • If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £350000 maisonette in Wokingham next Wednesday . The freeholder has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Wokingham?

    Wokingham conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by freeholders :

    • Completing pre-exchange questions
    • Where consent is required before sale in Wokingham
    • Supplying insurance information
    • 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 Wokingham leasehold premises is £350. For Wokingham 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 required to supply the information.

    I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Wokingham, conveyancing having been completed 9 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Wokingham with over 90 years remaining are worth £240,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2105

    With just 80 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Wokingham