Our experienced conveyancing keen abreast of the ever-changing landscape and legislation surrounding leasehold properties in order to ensure that their advice to you is accurate, relevant and ensures that you enter into a leasehold arrangement with full understanding of its implications.
In addition to the buyer and the seller, it may be necessary to involve the landlord, management company and/or managing agent in the transaction for the purpose of ensuring any consents required are obtained and that full information in relation to the leasehold arrangement is made available. For that reason, it is essential that you instruct a solicitor who is experienced in and comfortable with leasehold purchases.
The process of purchasing a leasehold property is similar in many respects to a freehold property but there are some key differences which we will highlight in our outline of the process below:
- Once you have identified a suitable property and had an offer accepted, your estate agent will issue a Memorandum of Sale to both parties and their chosen solicitors. From there we will liaise closely with the agent to ensure that information is shared in a timely and transparent manner. Our close working relationship with the agent will continue throughout the transaction to ensure a smooth process.
- We will contact your Seller’s solicitor to obtain a plan to enable us to put searches in place in early course and to request full contract papers.
2. Mortgage Arrangements:
- At the time of making your offer on the property, you will be considering how to finance your purchase. If you are obtaining a mortgage, your lender will usually want to instruct your solicitor to also act for them. Being on the panel for the vast majority of high street lenders enables us to say with confidence that, in most circumstances, we will be able to act for you and your lender which simplifies the process and ultimately saves you money.
- Once your mortgage offer is received, we will review and advise you upon any conditions of your mortgage offer and work with you to satisfy these in early course.
- Lenders have more stringent requirements when it comes to leasehold properties and it will be important to consider factors such as the term left on the lease, any increasing ground rent clauses and whether there is protection for the lender in the event of default in early course so that your time, and costs, aren’t wasted.
3. Legal Due Diligence:
On receipt of the contract papers from the seller’s solicitor, our experienced team will conduct a comprehensive legal due diligence exercise, which includes:
- Reviewing the title deeds and land registry documents to ensure clear and marketable title.
- Carrying out local authority searches to uncover any planning, environmental, or other potential issues affecting the property.
- Carrying out a water and drainage searches to establish whether the property is connected to the mains water and sewerage network and the location of any apparatus in the vicinity of the property that may present a development constraint.
- Carrying out an environmental, chancel and any other searches which are necessary for the area and/or which you instruct us that you would like us to obtain to identify and assess any other risk factors applicable to the property.
- Investigating any restrictive covenants, easements, or rights of way that may impact the property.
There will be an additional level of due-diligence involved in the purchase of a leasehold not least when it comes to the lease itself. Our team are skilled in the review of leases with a keen understanding of the provisions that are important both for buyers and lenders.
There is an additional form completed by the seller with information in relation to the leasehold arrangement and it will be necessary for the seller to obtain what is referred to as a management pack (or Form LPE1) from the landlord, management company or managing agent. The management pack will include information in relation to the rent, any service charge, day-to-day arrangements for the maintenance and insurance of the building of which the property forms part and a whole host of other important information.
- Based on the results of the searches and due diligence, we will raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor to clarify any issues or discrepancies identified. These may require the seller’s solicitor to revert to the landlord, management company and/or managing agent for clarification of points included in the management pack or to request documents which are missing, incomplete or unacceptable.
- We will review the seller’s solicitor’s responses to these enquiries, requesting additional information or documentation as necessary.
5. Reporting to you and your Lender
- Once we have collated the information presented and requested in relation to the property, we will report to you in a way that is clear and concise using straightforward language and avoiding complicated legal jargon and we will invite you to arrange a call with us to discuss any points which you are unsure about or which you would like further clarification in relation to.
- We will consider your lender’s instructions to us and report to them on any points necessary and submit a certificate of title to them satisfying their requirements and requesting funds in readiness for completion.
6. Exchange of Contracts:
- Once all legal and financial arrangements are in place, and both parties are satisfied with the terms of the sale, contracts will be exchanged and parties committed to the transaction. We will advise you of the implications of this and ensure that you are comfortable with everything before proceeding.
- At this stage, the buyer typically pays a deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price) to the seller’s solicitor and a date for completion is set.
- Completion is moving day! On completion, the mortgage offer is received and the balance of the purchase price is paid to the seller’s solicitor. Once funds have been received, completion is legally effected, and the keys are released. It is on the day of completion that the ownership of the property officially transfers to you.
8. Post-Completion Matters:
- Following completion, we will deal with matters relating to Stamp Duty or Land Transaction Tax at HMRC or the Welsh Revenue on your behalf. We will also register your ownership of the property with the Land Registry and deals with any remaining administrative tasks, such as receiving the relevant documentation from your seller’s solicitor and providing you with the documents for your safe keeping.
- There will be additional administration to attend to following completion of a leasehold. We will need to serve notice on your landlord and/or management company confirming that the transfer (and if applicable, mortgage) has taken place. We may also need to apply for you to become a member of the management company.
Why use Price and Kelway for your leasehold purchase?
The necessity of using a suitably qualified and experienced solicitor or conveyancer is increasingly important when it comes to leasehold property. The nuances of the landlord and tenant relationship range far and wide and there can be many pitfalls along the way. Our team will work to ensure that by keeping up to date with current legislation and regulations, they are able to guide you through what can be a daunting process and insure that your interests are protected.
We are well renowned for making the process as straightforward and stress free as possible and our repeat clients are testament to that. We use straightforward and clear language when reporting to you and our team are always on hand to chat through any queries that you may have. We have an excellent reputation with local estate agents and effortlessly build a rapport with agents further afield. We are on the panel for most high street lenders and lots of boutique or specialist lenders and are members of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme which ensures our compliance with a practice of streamlining the conveyancing process whilst maintaining a high standard of excellence in our work and our service.
