Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Boscombe:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Boscombe, you will need to chose a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , RBS or Nationwide make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Frequently asked questions relating to Boscombe leasehold conveyancing

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Boscombe. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Boscombe - 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 only have Sixty One years left on my flat in Boscombe. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Boscombe.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Boscombe. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct 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. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Boscombe who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Boscombe conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Boscombe where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Boscombe conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Boscombe from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Boscombe can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Boscombe state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Boscombe conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I own a ground floor flat in Boscombe, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. 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? Equivalent flats in Boscombe with a long lease are worth £251,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2083

    You have 59 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £20,900 and £24,200 as well as legals.

    The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Boscombe