When you are purchasing a leasehold property, there are a number of additional issues over and above the purchase of a freehold to deal with to make sure that the property is satisfactorily transferred to you.
One of the documents that should be reviewed by your lawyer is the Lease. This document regulates your relationship with the landlord and the other leaseholders and will set out your rights and obligations in respect of the property. For example, it will detail the service charge that you and other leasehold owners will have to contribute towards.
At Buss Murton Law, we will ensure that you have all the necessary rights to fully use the property as well as checking that the restrictions and obligations that are imposed are not too onerous. We will also check that the remaining term of the Lease is sufficient for you and your lender (if any).
Management Company Enquiries
The landlord will also have obligations under the Lease and in the majority of cases a management company will be instructed to ensure these are complied with. Your solicitor will therefore need to raise some enquiries with the management company to check that these obligations have been complied with.
The management company will also deal with the collection of the service charge that is paid by all leaseholders and we will ensure that the seller’s account is fully paid up before you take on this responsibility.
Deed of covenant
One of the enquiries that will be raised with the management company relates to the need for a Deed of Covenant. This is a document which you may be required to enter into by the landlord as it will transfer the obligations contained in the Lease directly to you. There is normally a fee which the management company will charge you for this document and we will make sure that it is drafted correctly to ensure there are no problems encountered between you and your landlord post completion.
Freehold interest
It is becoming increasingly common for a leasehold property to come with an interest in the freehold title so that, in effect, all of the leaseholders are also the landlord. If this is the case for your purchase, we will ensure that your interest in the title is correctly registered and will also confirm how the leaseholders manage the functions and responsibilities of the landlord. This is important as in some cases this is done on an informal basis by the leaseholders, which could cause problems if there is no mechanism to resolve disputes.
