I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Beckenham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Beckenham. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Beckenham are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Beckenham in which case you should be looking for a Beckenham conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should advise you fully on all the issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Beckenham. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Beckenham who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Beckenham conveyancing firm 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Beckenham. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 ensure 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).

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 150000 maisonette in Beckenham next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Beckenham?

For most leasehold sales in Beckenham conveyancing will involve, queries regarding 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 Beckenham
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Beckenham leasehold property is £350. For Beckenham 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.

Having spent years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Beckenham. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to determine the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Beckenham property is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76.75 and 88.83.

Beckenham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

The best form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.