Planning to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Bartley Green. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The physical extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or cellar if applicable.

Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or staircase?

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Bartley Green please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Bartley Green

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Bartley Green.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Bartley Green. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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).

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £425000 garden flat in Bartley Green in 10 days. The management company has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Bartley Green?

Bartley Green conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically necessitates administration charges raised by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Bartley Green
• 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 Bartley Green leasehold premises is £350. For Bartley Green 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 the information.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Bartley Green what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bartley Green. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, Virgin Money, and Bank of Ireland all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Bartley Green, conveyancing having been completed in 2001. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar properties in Bartley Green with an extended lease are worth £237,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2098

With 75 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bartley Green