Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Riddlesdown:

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Riddlesdown, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Questions and Answers: Riddlesdown leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Riddlesdown. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Riddlesdown - 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.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Riddlesdown. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

  • Are pets allowed in the flat?
  • Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
  • You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Riddlesdown please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Riddlesdown

    • I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Riddlesdown.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

    It best that you 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 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.

    I've found a house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Riddlesdown. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Riddlesdown ?

    Most houses in Riddlesdown are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Riddlesdown so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Riddlesdown conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

    I am employed by a long established estate agency in Riddlesdown where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Riddlesdown conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

    As long as 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

    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.

    We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in Riddlesdown. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

    if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the sum to be paid.

    An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Riddlesdown flat is The Woodlands 95 Purley Park Road in April 2009. The Tribunals own valuation produced the figure of £37,912. This case was in relation to 6 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 78.32 years.