Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Bracknell:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Bracknell, you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Yorkshire Building Society or NatWest make sure you choose a lawyer on their panel. Find a Bracknell conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Sample questions relating to Bracknell leasehold conveyancing

I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Bracknell. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • 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.
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Bracknell please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Bracknell

    • I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Bracknell.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

    Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

    I work for a busy estate agent office in Bracknell where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Bracknell conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

    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.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Bracknell conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bracknell conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Bracknell conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

    • How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • Can they put you in touch with client in Bracknell who can give a testimonial?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bracknell from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bracknell can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in Bracknell levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bracknell.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Bracknell leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I invested in buying a garden flat in Bracknell, conveyancing having been completed 2002. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Bracknell with an extended lease are worth £259,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2093

    With 69 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Bracknell