Expecting to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Beaufort. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Beaufort should include some of the following:

• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.E.G., does the lease permit a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Beaufort.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Beaufort. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. A critical element 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).

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Beaufort where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Beaufort conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 425000 apartment in Beaufort on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Beaufort?

Beaufort conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Beaufort Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

If a Beaufort lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the marketability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Beaufortlease extensions you would need to own the residence for 24 months before you are entitled to extend the lease.