Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Bodfari.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the invoice 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.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold house in Bodfari. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Bodfari who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Bodfari conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line 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 am employed by a long established estate agency in Bodfari where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Bodfari conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 buyer can avoid having 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 extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bodfari from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bodfari can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Bodfari leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £150000 flat in Bodfari in 8 days. The management company has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bodfari?

Bodfari conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy 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 cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I invested in buying a studio flat in Bodfari, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Bodfari with a long lease are worth £243,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2101

With 76 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Bodfari