The deeds to my house can not be found. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Rusholme 10 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?

Nowadays there are copies made of almost everything, and your solicitor will know exactly where to locate all the appropriate documentation so you may buy or dispose of your house without a hitch. Where copies can’t be found, your solicitor can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities protecting you against possible claims on your premises.

What does commercial conveyancing in Rusholme cover?

Rusholme conveyancing for business premises covers a wide array of advice, provided by qualified solicitors, relating to business premises. For example, this area of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the transfer of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of tenancies.

I am 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been recommend to solicitors by the estate agent to perform conveyancing in Rusholme. I am am starting to be disappointed with the quality of service. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?

A solicitor would have to be really poor to suggest replacing them. Has the mortgage offer been generated? In the event that it has you need to inform them of the new contact details and get the offer are re-sent. Your conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating costs and frustration. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a bank approved conveyancer for your home move in Rusholme

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Rusholme from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rusholme can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ representatives.
If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Rusholme state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand. A minority of Rusholme leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 buyers or their lawyers. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder 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 a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 ahead of 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 better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

I invested in buying a garden flat in Rusholme, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Rusholme with a long lease are worth £191,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2079

With only 54 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £31,400 and £36,200 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

We own a leasehold flat in Rusholme. Conveyancing was finalised in 2009. I have read on various advice forums that I should not let the lease length fall too short. Why is that a problem?

Rusholme leasehold properties are for a prescribed period - normally 99 years when they commenced. However a significant appartments in Rusholme were constructed or converted in the 70’s80’s and so such leases now have under 80 years left to run. This may seem like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders generally require leases to have at least 75 years remaining to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are approaching 75 years. To maximise your property value you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore strong financial reasons to doing so before the lease hits 80 years as when the lease falls below 80 years the amount to be paid to extend starts to increase.