I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Yarm. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Yarm - 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 am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Yarm both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Yarm. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Yarm with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Yarm can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Yarm levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Yarm.

A minority of Yarm leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Yarm conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £300000 garden flat in Yarm in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Yarm?

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

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Yarm
• 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 Yarm leasehold property is £350. For Yarm 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 answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Yarm what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Yarm is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I inherited a 2 bed flat in Yarm, conveyancing was carried out in 2000. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Yarm with a long lease are worth £173,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

With 79 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

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 without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Yarm