My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Arnside. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Arnside who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Arnside conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Arnside. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Arnside where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Arnside conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Arnside conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Arnside conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Arnside conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Arnside in the last twenty four months?
• What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 225000 apartment in Arnside on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Arnside?

Arnside conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Arnside - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

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