I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Darley Abbey. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Darley Abbey - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I own a leasehold house in Darley Abbey. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Darley Abbey who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Darley Abbey conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Darley Abbey. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 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 employed by a reputable estate agent office in Darley Abbey where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Darley Abbey conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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. This means 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 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £350000 maisonette in Darley Abbey in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Darley Abbey?

Darley Abbey conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Darley Abbey
• 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 Darley Abbey leasehold premises is £350. For Darley Abbey 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 provide answers.

Darley Abbey Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Be sure to enquire if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Darley Abbey. If you like the propertyin Darley Abbey but your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced hard choice. The best form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the lessees enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Is the freehold owned jointly by the tenants?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Darley Abbey