I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Ferryside.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Ferryside. Do I have any liability for 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Ferryside conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Ferryside conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Ferryside conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Ferryside in the last 12 months?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ferryside with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ferryside can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Ferryside levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ferryside.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Ferryside state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
• A minority of Ferryside leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 475000 flat in Ferryside in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Ferryside?

Ferryside conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily involves fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Ferryside
• 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 Ferryside leasehold premises is £350. For Ferryside 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 supply answers.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Ferryside, conveyancing formalities finalised 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Ferryside with a long lease are worth £269,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2092

You have 66 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £14,300 and £16,400 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.