I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Burnham Market. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Burnham Market - 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.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Burnham Market.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear 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 managing agents 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.

I work for a busy estate agency in Burnham Market where we have witnessed 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 Burnham Market conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £175000 flat in Burnham Market on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Burnham Market?

Burnham Market conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, 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 respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

What makes a Burnham Market lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Burnham Market. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Bank of Scotland, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Burnham Market - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the yearly service fee and ground rent? The best form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants benefit from control and even though a managing agent is often retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the leaseholders?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Burnham Market