Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Bodelwyddan.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Bodelwyddan. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Bodelwyddan who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Bodelwyddan conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Bodelwyddan which have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Bodelwyddan. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bodelwyddan with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bodelwyddan can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Bodelwyddan levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bodelwyddan.

If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Bodelwyddan home move. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £400000 maisonette in Bodelwyddan next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Bodelwyddan?

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

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Bodelwyddan
• 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 Bodelwyddan leasehold premises is £350. For Bodelwyddan 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.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Bodelwyddan, conveyancing formalities finalised in 1998. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Bodelwyddan with a long lease are worth £193,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2088

With 63 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £20,000 and £23,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Bodelwyddan