Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Filton. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Filton - 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 would like to rent out my leasehold flat in Filton. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your previous Filton conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Filton where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Filton conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Filton from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Filton can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Some Filton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Filton conveyancing transaction. If a new share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

What makes a Filton lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Filton is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Virgin Money, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions 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, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Filton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Best to be warned whether a new roof is being installed or some other major work is coming up to be shared amongst the leaseholders and will materially impact the level of the maintenance charges or result in a specific payment.