Experts for Leasehold Conveyancing in Wendover

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Top Five Questions relating to Wendover leasehold conveyancing

My husband and I may need to sub-let our Wendover 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Wendover conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your last Wendover conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Wendover. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Wendover who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Wendover 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Wendover. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Wendover conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Wendover conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Wendover conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

  • If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Wendover in the last 12 months?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wendover from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wendover can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • Some Wendover leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Wendover conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Wendover - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

      Be sure to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example it is very common in Wendover leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Wendover. If you like the propertyin Wendover however your cat is not allowed to move with you then you have a very hard decision. How much is the ground rent and service charge? You should be aware if it is less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the premises for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Wendover