Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Great Missenden.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Great Missenden where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Great Missenden conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 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 prior to, 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Great Missenden conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Great Missenden conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Great Missenden conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Great Missenden in the last year?

Can they put you in touch with client in Great Missenden who can give a testimonial?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Great Missenden from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Missenden can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Great Missenden levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out 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 usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Missenden.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Great Missenden state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.

A minority of Great Missenden leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Great Missenden conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £325000 garden flat in Great Missenden in 8 days. The managing agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Great Missenden?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Great Missenden conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Great Missenden
• 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 Great Missenden leasehold property is £350. For Great Missenden 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 supply the information.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Great Missenden, conveyancing was carried out in 2004. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Great Missenden with over 90 years remaining are worth £249,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2086

You have 61 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as legals.

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 investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Great Missenden