Leasehold Conveyancing in Milnthorpe - Get a Quote from the leasehold experts approved by your lender

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe, you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, RBS or NatWest be sure to choose a lawyer on their panel. Feel free to use our search tool

Milnthorpe leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

My wife and I may need to let out our Milnthorpe garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Milnthorpe conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Milnthorpe do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Milnthorpe. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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 long established estate agency in Milnthorpe where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Milnthorpe conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start 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 for a lease extension. 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 disposal of the property.

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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe with the intention of expediting the sale process?

  • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • Many landlords or managing agents in Milnthorpe levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Milnthorpe state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
  • Some Milnthorpe leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

    • We expect to complete the disposal of our £475000 flat in Milnthorpe in just under a week. The management company has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Milnthorpe?

    Milnthorpe conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

    Milnthorpe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      For many Milnthorpe leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, although a few managing agents in Milnthorpe require leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. What is the the remaining lease term? Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Milnthorpe