I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Haslemere.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Haslemere both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Haslemere where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Haslemere conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Haslemere conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Haslemere conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Haslemere conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What are the charges for lease extension work?

Completion in due on our sale of a £275000 flat in Haslemere on Tuesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Haslemere?

For most leasehold sales in Haslemere 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 conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Haslemere
• 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 Haslemere leasehold premises is £350. For Haslemere 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.

Haslemere Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, although a few managing agents in Haslemere ask leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Please note that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most Haslemerelease extensions you would be required to have been the owner of the residence for a couple of years before you are entitled to extend the lease. Its a good idea to find out as much as possible about the company managing the block as they can either make life much easier or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues such as the upkeep of the common parts. Enquire of other people what they think of their management. Finally, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending the funds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Haslemere