I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Little Bromwich.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 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.

Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold flat in Little Bromwich. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Little Bromwich who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Little Bromwich conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Little Bromwich from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Little Bromwich can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Little Bromwich levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought 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 usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Little Bromwich.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Little Bromwich home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 350000 garden flat in Little Bromwich next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Little Bromwich?

Little Bromwich conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Little Bromwich what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Little Bromwich. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Little Bromwich, conveyancing was carried out in 2009. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Little Bromwich with over 90 years remaining are worth £172,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2085

With only 59 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £21,900 and £25,200 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.