I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Hazlemere.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

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

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Hazlemere. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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 be sure 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Hazlemere where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Hazlemere conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process 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 buyer 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 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Hazlemere conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hazlemere conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Hazlemere conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
• What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hazlemere with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hazlemere can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Hazlemere 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 accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hazlemere.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Hazlemere state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
• Some Hazlemere leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (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 purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Hazlemere - Examples of Queries before buying

Best to be warned if changing the roof or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future to be shared amongst the leasehold owners and may well dramatically increase the the service costs or require a specific invoice. What is the the remaining lease term?