Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Eccles. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Eccles - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 want to sublet my leasehold apartment in Eccles. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Eccles conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Eccles.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you pay the service charge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Back In 2009, I bought a leasehold flat in Eccles. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Eccles who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Eccles 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 landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Eccles where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Eccles conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Eccles - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

If a Eccles lease has less than eighty years it will affect the marketability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease.