Due to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Cotham. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Defining your rights in relation to common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

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

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Cotham please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Cotham

Back In 2009, I bought a leasehold flat in Cotham. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Cotham who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Cotham conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Cotham where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Cotham conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Cotham from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cotham can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Cotham state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Where you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.

Some Cotham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Cotham conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential 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 home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £450000 maisonette in Cotham in just under a week. The management company has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Cotham?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Cotham conveyancing will involve, queries regarding 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 Cotham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Cotham leasehold premises is £350. For Cotham 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 answers.

Cotham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. It would be wise to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with their service. In conclusion, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely what you get for your money. If a Cotham lease has fewer than eighty years it will affect the salability of the flat. Check with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the premises for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cotham