Expecting to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Hurst Green. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your 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

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Hurst Green. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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 am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Hurst Green where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Hurst Green conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 need not have to sit tight for 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.

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 buyer.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Hurst Green conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hurst Green conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Hurst Green conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Hurst Green who can give a testimonial?

What are the charges for lease extension work?

All being well we will complete our sale of a £500000 maisonette in Hurst Green in 5 days. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hurst Green?

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

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Hurst Green
• 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 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 premises 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 answers.

Hurst Green Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

This information is helpful as a) areas may result in problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to have full disclosure It would be prudent to find out as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they can either make life much simpler or problematic. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues such as the tidiness of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask prospective neighbours what they think of their service. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically what you get for your money. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is frequently employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hurst Green