My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Dalton in Furness. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Dalton in Furness who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Dalton in Furness conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Dalton in Furness. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Dalton in Furness where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Dalton in Furness conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed 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 purchaser.

We expect to complete our sale of a £500000 garden flat in Dalton in Furness on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Dalton in Furness?

Dalton in Furness conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Dalton in Furness what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Dalton in Furness. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I bought a ground floor flat in Dalton in Furness, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Dalton in Furness with over 90 years remaining are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2076

You have 51 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £30,400 and £35,200 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Dalton in Furness