I've found a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Ditchling. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Ditchling are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Ditchling so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Ditchling conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Ditchling both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Ditchling. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Ditchling. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. However, 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 long established estate agency in Ditchling where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Ditchling conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 before, 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 buyer.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 175000 apartment in Ditchling in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Ditchling?

Ditchling conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

Ditchling Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability? Please note that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the value of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most Ditchlinglease extensions you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the residence for a couple of years before you are legally able to extend the lease.