Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Comberton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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've recently bought a leasehold house in Comberton. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Comberton from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Comberton can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Comberton state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

A minority of Comberton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £450000 flat in Comberton on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Comberton?

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

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Comberton
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Comberton leasehold premises is £350. For Comberton 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 provide the information.

What makes a Comberton lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Comberton is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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 will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed 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 buyer to withdraw.

Comberton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

The majority of Comberton leasehold flats will have a service charge for maintenance of the building set by the management company. Where you acquire the property you will have to meet this amount, normally periodically during the year. This could vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a significant figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to check it because sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. In the main the outlay for major works are not incorporated into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Comberton obliged tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. This question is helpful as a) areas may cause problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will need to have complete disclosure

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Comberton