I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Beckermet both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Beckermet. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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 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 employed by a reputable estate agent office in Beckermet where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Beckermet conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Beckermet conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Beckermet conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Beckermet conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

We expect to complete the sale of our £150000 apartment in Beckermet on Wednesday in a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Beckermet?

Beckermet conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Beckermet - Sample of Queries before buying

Where a Beckermet lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan 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 what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be be obliged to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension. It would be prudent to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Beckermet. If you love the apartmentin Beckermet yet your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced hard choice. Its a good idea to find out as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they will either make your living at the property much easier or much more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day matters like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Enquire of other tenants if they are happy with their management. Finally, find out the dates that the service charges are due to the managing agents and specifically what you get for your money.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Beckermet