I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Halstead. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Setting out your rights in relation to common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease permit a right of way over a path or hallways?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Halstead please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Halstead

I own a leasehold house in Halstead. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Halstead who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Halstead conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Halstead where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Halstead conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 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 disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Halstead conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Halstead conveyancing firm) it is most important 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 Halstead conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

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

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £400000 maisonette in Halstead next Thursday . The management company has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Halstead?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Halstead
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Halstead leasehold premises is £350. For Halstead 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 the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Halstead - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Best to be warned if window replacement or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared by the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the service fees or require a one time invoice. Many Halstead leasehold properties will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the freeholder. Should you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this charge, usually periodically throughout the year. This may differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. In all probability there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a large sum, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. Be sure to investigate if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in Halstead leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Halstead. If you love the flatin Halstead however your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced hard choice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Halstead