Looking forward to complete next month on a studio apartment in Cambourne. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Cambourne should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

Repair and maintenance of the flat

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Cambourne please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Cambourne

I own a leasehold house in Cambourne. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Cambourne who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Cambourne conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Cambourne both have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Cambourne is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Cambourne conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Cambourne where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Cambourne conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £500000 apartment in Cambourne in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Cambourne?

For most leasehold sales in Cambourne conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Cambourne
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Cambourne leasehold property is £350. For Cambourne 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 supply answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Cambourne - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Plenty Cambourne leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block set by the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this contribution, usually quarterly during the year. This could differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a significant figure, say about £50-£100 but you should to check it because on occasion it can be surprisingly expensive. Its a good idea to discover as much as you can about the company managing the building as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. Enquire of other people what they think of their management. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending the funds. Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the leaseholders?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cambourne