Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Temple Fortune. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Temple Fortune - 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 today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Temple Fortune. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Temple Fortune are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Temple Fortune so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Temple Fortune conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Temple Fortune. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society 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. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Temple Fortune who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Temple Fortune conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Temple Fortune. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I work for a busy estate agency in Temple Fortune where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Temple Fortune conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Temple Fortune. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Temple Fortune property is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.

Temple Fortune Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

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