I am the registered owner of a freehold house in Stanwell yet pay rent, why is this and what is this?

It is rare for properties in Stanwell and has limited impact for conveyancing in Stanwell but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 will be dispensed with completely.

A relative recommended that where I am purchasing in Stanwell I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Stanwell conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Stanwell around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Stanwell Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Stanwell.

The deeds to our property are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Stanwell 4 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?

Gone are the days when you need to have the physical official documentation to prove you own the land or premises, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Stanwell. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Stanwell - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Stanwell Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Does this lease have in excess of 82 years left? It is important to be aware if fixing the lift or some other major work is pending that will be shared by the leaseholders and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance fees or necessitate a one time payment. How is the lease structured?

What can I do to discover who owns a property in Stanwell?

Provided the property is registered with the Land Registry, and you have sufficient specifics of the location of the property, you should be able to see results from the the Land Registry of the recorded owner for a for less than a fiver.