Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Dunmow. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Dunmow who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Dunmow conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a busy estate agency in Dunmow where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Dunmow conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 has to be done before, 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 buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Dunmow conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Dunmow conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Dunmow conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Dunmow who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Some Dunmow leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £325000 apartment in Dunmow on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Dunmow?

Dunmow conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They may charge 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 over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Dunmow Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Make sure you enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Dunmow. If you love the apartmentin Dunmow yet your dog can’t make the move with you then you will be faced difficult choice. Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? Plenty Dunmow leasehold properties will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically throughout the year. This could vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, normally this is not a large amount, say about £25-£75 but you should to check it because occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Dunmow