I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Anlaby. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Anlaby should include some of the following:

• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Anlaby please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Anlaby

I own a leasehold flat in Anlaby. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Anlaby who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Anlaby conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Anlaby where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Anlaby conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Anlaby conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Anlaby conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Anlaby conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £375000 garden flat in Anlaby next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Anlaby?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Anlaby conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Anlaby
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Anlaby leasehold property is £350. For Anlaby conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Anlaby - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Who are the managing agents? It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other major work is coming up that will be shared between the leaseholders and could well materially increase the the service charges or require a one time invoice. This question is important as a) areas can result in problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have all the details

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Anlaby