My solicitor wants to charge me to create 2 new leases

James478

Hi all, I'm new and have a bit of a weird one. Hence asking as no searches yielded results.

I'm purchasing a share of freehold flat with 50% going to us and 50% to the ground floor flat. 2 new 999 year leases have been created by the current freeholders and sent to me to review. The downstairs flat owners are planning to do some building work now that they have their half of the freehold. I've asked for some things to be written into their new lease, such as if the building caves in when they remove the supporting wall under my kitchen that all damages will be paid for by them. They have accepted this and everything was going great.

However after changing to a new solicitor (the first one was planning to charge me a grand for something that is only payable if you are selling a property, which we are not) they have said that they want me to pay them to look at my lease and, I'm assuming approve it and register it. This will be about £600 - I have never moved house before so not sure if that's reasonable, or necessary. I have been unable to find general estimates of how much this should cost from an online search.

My solicitor has also asked for the same amount again to review the downstairs lease. Is this normal? I would have thought that the fee for the lease of the downstairs flat would be between the current seller and current occupiers.

My concern is that my original quote from my solicitor was for a share of freehold flat and did not include this extra fee so I'm reluctant to pay it as from my perspective nothing has changed and nothing is more involved that when I first requested their representation. Any examples of other's similar past experience would be really helpful, thanks.

user1977

I'll let others comment on typical levels of fees, but it is normal for your solicitor to look at the leases - after all, what do you want them to do, if not review this sort of thing and give you advice about it?

And as you say you're a first time buyer, I'll assume you're buying with a mortgage - in which case your lender will certainly need the solicitors to review the leases, even if you're not bothered.

km1500

not sure there is such a thing as a freehold flat?

what exactly did you buy when you offered on the property ? i assume a flat with an existing xx year lease?

If so this is what you were quoted for

If subsequently you are getting the freehold and drawing up new leases then yes this has to be paid for.

James478

km1500 said:

not sure there is such a thing as a freehold flat?

what exactly did you buy when you offered on the property ? i assume a flat with an existing xx year lease?

If so this is what you were quoted for

If subsequently you are getting the freehold and drawing up new leases then yes this has to be paid for.

It's a share of freehold flat, with the freehold being shared between the upstairs and downstairs - it's a converted house. It's not uncommon but it is quite rare to my knowledge.

My question was more do I have to pay for downstairs' new lease? The sellers seem to think that they are paying for it, but my solicitor is insisting on being involved and it's going to cost me. Just a bit confused as although we will be sharing the freehold I figured it would be that we are buying 50% and therefore only have to pay for our lease and not our neighbours

user1977

James478 said:

km1500 said:

not sure there is such a thing as a freehold flat?

what exactly did you buy when you offered on the property ? i assume a flat with an existing xx year lease?

If so this is what you were quoted for

If subsequently you are getting the freehold and drawing up new leases then yes this has to be paid for.

My question was more do I have to pay for downstairs' new lease? The sellers seem to think that they are paying for it, but my solicitor is insisting on being involved and it's going to cost me

You're not paying "for" it, but you (or your solicitor on your/your lender's behalf) have an interest in seeing what it says (e.g. to make sure it's consistent with yours) - that's what you're paying for.

bouicca21

The solicitor (and probably mortgage lender) need to check that the two leases will work properly together.  As a hypothetical, imagine that one includes a clause saying the leaseholder is responsible for 50% of the cost of fixing the roof but the other is silent on the subject, or that neither lease specifies that the freeholder (in this case the two leaseholders wearing their freeholder hat) has to insure the building.

Doozergirl

A lease already affords you the right of 'support and protection' from your neighbours.  That means maintaining the property in a decent state of repair so it doesn't collapse or leak.  It's probably the most important part of it.  

And what you need for the removal of walls will be a Party Wall Agreement which has nothing to do with leases or solicitors.  It can be done between you or with the help of a party wall surveyor.  

What else are you trying to write into effectively new leases as a FTB? 

I can see why, if these are new leases, that the solicitor wants to check that they marry, as per the post above mine. 

James478

Thanks for the responses, I think probably because share of freehold is uncommon is probably why there is little available information on this but glad to see that it seems to be reasonable what my solicitor is asking for.

eddddy

I assume this will be a standard 'Share of Freehold' arrangement. So you will be buying 2 things:

1. A leasehold flat
2. 50% joint ownership of the freehold building

In simple terms...

• The solicitor wants to spend about 2 hours reading your lease in detail to check it for any problems (cost = £600)

• The solicitor wants to spend about 2 hours reading your neighbours lease in detail to check it for any problems (cost = £600)

It's very sensible for the solicitor to carefully check both leases, as you will be party to both leases...

• For one lease you will be leaseholder and joint freeholder

• For the other lease you will be joint freeholder

However, I would expect both leases to be about 95% identical - so maybe it's reasonable to spend 2 hours checking one of them, but much less time checking the other (i.e. just checking at the bits that are different).

But perhaps the solicitor would say that he/she doesn't know whether they will be 95% identical, until he/she sees them.


Also, I've heard of solicitors wanting to review brand-new leases more carefully (and charge more) than leases which have 'changed-hands' a few times - because they regard them as riskier. (But I'm a bit dubious about the logic behind that.)