You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Hurst Green. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Hurst Green please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Hurst Green

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Hurst Green.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Hurst Green. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Hurst Green ?

The majority of houses in Hurst Green are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Hurst Green so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Hurst Green conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.

I work for a busy estate agency in Hurst Green where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Hurst Green conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 450000 apartment in Hurst Green on Tuesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hurst Green?

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

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Hurst Green
• 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 Hurst Green leasehold property is £350. For Hurst Green 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.

Hurst Green Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Please note if it is fewer than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with residual term of the lease. Leases with less 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 how much this would cost. For most Hurst Greenlease extensions you will need to own the residence for two years in order to be entitled to extend the lease.