I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bridlington. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Bridlington - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Bridlington. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Bridlington. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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. However, 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 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 long established estate agent office in Bridlington where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Bridlington conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 buyer.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £400000 apartment in Bridlington on Thursday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bridlington?

Bridlington conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Bridlington Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

How much is the ground rent and service charge? What prohibitions exist in the Bridlington Lease? Best to be warned if a new roof is being put on or some other major work is anticipated to be shared amongst the leasehold owners and will materially impact the level of the service fees or necessitate a one off payment.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bridlington