I’m about to sell my basement flat in Eaglescliffe.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Eaglescliffe where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Eaglescliffe conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Eaglescliffe from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Eaglescliffe can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Eaglescliffe leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £475000 garden flat in Eaglescliffe in just under a week. The management company has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Eaglescliffe?

Eaglescliffe conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

What makes a Eaglescliffe lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Eaglescliffe. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Virgin Money, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions 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 provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Eaglescliffe, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Eaglescliffe with a long lease are worth £208,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2090

With just 69 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should 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.

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Lease Extensions in Eaglescliffe