I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Caversham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly service 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 unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Caversham both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Caversham. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Caversham from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Caversham can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Caversham levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Caversham.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Caversham leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider 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 garden flat in Caversham in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Caversham?

Caversham conveyancing on leasehold flats typically results in administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Caversham
• 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 Caversham leasehold property is £350. For Caversham 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 obliged to supply answers.

Are there common problems that you come across in leases for Caversham properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Caversham is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Caversham, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Caversham with a long lease are worth £207,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2078

With 52 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £29,500 and £34,000 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.