I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Highnam.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge 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 managing agents 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 maisonettes in Highnam both have about 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Highnam. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. It is an essential part 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 work for a long established estate agent office in Highnam where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Highnam conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate 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 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 sit tight for 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £250000 garden flat in Highnam next week. The freeholder has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Highnam?

Highnam conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates fees being raised by management companies :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Highnam
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Highnam leasehold property is £350. For Highnam 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.

Highnam Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

If a Highnam lease has fewer than eighty years it will affect the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. For most Highnamlease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the premises for two years before you are eligible to carry out a lease extension. The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the leaseholders have control and although a managing agent is usually employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Highnam