I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Haddenham. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Haddenham - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Haddenham. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Haddenham should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

The physical extent of the property. This will be the property itself but might incorporate a loft or cellar if appropriate.

Setting out your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Haddenham please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Haddenham

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Haddenham.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

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

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Haddenham. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

We expect to complete our sale of a £500000 apartment in Haddenham in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £300 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 leasehold conveyance in Haddenham?

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

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Haddenham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Haddenham leasehold property is £350. For Haddenham 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 answers.

Haddenham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

For most Haddenham leaseholds the cost for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Haddenham require leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. The majority of Haddenham leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the freeholder. Should you acquire the flat you will have to pay this contribution, usually in instalments accross the year. This could vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. Where a Haddenham lease has fewer than eighty years it will affect the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have owned the property for two years before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Haddenham