I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Littleborough.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you 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 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 own a leasehold house in Littleborough. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Littleborough who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Littleborough conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Littleborough 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 can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Littleborough leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £125000 apartment in Littleborough in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Littleborough?

Littleborough conveyancing on leasehold flats typically necessitates fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Littleborough
• 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 Littleborough leasehold premises is £350. For Littleborough 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 obliged to supply the information.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough what are the most common lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. 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
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Littleborough Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

This question is important as a) areas can result in problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will need to have all the details The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Littleborough require leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Littleborough