Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Upminster:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Upminster, you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Clydesdale , Birmingham Midshires or NatWest make sure you find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Upminster conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Questions and Answers: Upminster leasehold conveyancing

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Upminster. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Upminster - 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.

There are only 72 years unexpired on my flat in Upminster. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Upminster.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Upminster both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Upminster. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Upminster from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Upminster can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
  • Many landlords or Management Companies in Upminster charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Upminster.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Upminster leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.
  • If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • I own a ground floor flat in Upminster. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

    Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Upminster conveyancing firm who can help.

    An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Upminster premises is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 57.5 years.

    Are there common problems that you come across in leases for Upminster properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Upminster is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
    • 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

    A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Aldermore all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Upminster