Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Egremont costs more?

In short, leasehold conveyancing in Egremont and Cumbria usually necessitates extra work compared to freehold conveyancing. This includes lease investigation, corresponding with the landlord about the service of required notices, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, procuring the freeholder’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – regardless of the fact the lease has passed through many different property solicitors hands since it was first entered into.

Having invested time reviewing online forums for an online solicitor in Egremont, many say that I should instruct a CQS kitemarked solicitor. What is CQS?

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * adherence to prudent and efficient conveyancing processes through the scheme protocol It includes many organisations who execute conveyancing in Egremont.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Egremont in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor has said that some banks will not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements from Nationwide. If you contact us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Egremont. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Egremont especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Egremont.

Should I be wary that 3rd parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Egremont conveyancing practice?

As with many service providers, often recommendations from relatives can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are many players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies may suggest solicitors to use. Sometimes the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You have the discretion to choose your own conveyancer. Don't forget that the majority of lenders specify a panel list of law firms you must use for the mortgage related work in your conveyancing.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Egremont where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Egremont conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Egremont - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Most Egremont leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied by the landlord. Should you acquire the property you will have to meet this charge, usually periodically accross the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. For most Egremont leaseholds the outlay for major works are not included within service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Egremont ask leaseholders to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?