I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Forest of Dean.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Forest of Dean. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Forest of Dean ?

The majority of houses in Forest of Dean are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Forest of Dean in which case you should be shopping around for a Forest of Dean conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Forest of Dean with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Forest of Dean can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Forest of Dean charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack 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 usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Forest of Dean.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Forest of Dean leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Forest of Dean conveyancing transaction. Where a new share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 350000 maisonette in Forest of Dean 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 such fees for a flat conveyance in Forest of Dean?

For most leasehold sales in Forest of Dean conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Forest of Dean
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Forest of Dean leasehold property is £350. For Forest of Dean 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 required to provide answers.

What makes a Forest of Dean lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Forest of Dean. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I purchased a studio flat in Forest of Dean, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2006. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Forest of Dean with an extended lease are worth £170,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2102

You have 76 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.