We hope to to buy with Melton Mowbray Building Society. We have called around locally but am struggling to find a Marlow conveyancing firm on the Melton Mowbray Building Society panel. Could you help?

You should take advantage of the search tool on this web page. Please choose the building society and type Marlow or your location and you will be presented with a number of lawyer located in Marlow or nearest you.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one near me in Marlow I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Marlow for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.

In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my business property in Marlow and how can your lawyers assist?

The particular law that you refer to gives security of tenure to business leaseholders, granting the dueness to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease comes to an end. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complex. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing practices who use the act to your advantage and help with commercial conveyancing in Marlow

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Marlow where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Marlow conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Marlow - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. It is important to be aware whether redecorating or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared between the leaseholders and could well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance costs or require a one off invoice. Is the freehold owned jointly by the leaseholders?

As a tenant I am on the hook for a service charge for my ground floor flat in Marlow. As a result of personal circumstances I fell into arrears with payments. The managing agents agreed a clearance plan but there is still in the region of £1750 currently due.

I want to dispose of the property and I am nervous that this can threaten to derail the sale if I have to settle the arrears first. I'd like to sell up and subsequently pay them back with the proceeds - is this viable?

It would be wise to speak with the conveyancing practitioner dealing with your Marlow conveyancing but one option might be to arrange for the debt to be transferred to the buyers. The sale price due would be reduced to reflect the amount of debt they assume. They would then deal with the arrears once they are the owners.