Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Wareham

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Top Five Questions relating to Wareham leasehold conveyancing

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Wareham. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Wareham - 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’m about to sell my garden apartment in Wareham.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge 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 own a leasehold house in Wareham. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Wareham who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Wareham conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Wareham with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wareham can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
  • Many freeholders or Management Companies in Wareham levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wareham.
  • Some Wareham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • What are the common deficiencies that you witness in leases for Wareham properties?

    Leasehold conveyancing in Wareham is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
    • A duty to insure the building
    • 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 as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

    I inherited a 1st floor flat in Wareham, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Wareham with a long lease are worth £244,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2081

    With 56 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £28,500 and £33,000 plus costs.

    The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Wareham