Planning to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Charlton. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Charlton please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Charlton

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Charlton. 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 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Charlton with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Charlton can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Charlton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Charlton.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Charlton leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the sale of our £125000 garden flat in Charlton next Wednesday . The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Charlton?

Charlton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically necessitates fees being invoiced by managing agents :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Charlton
• 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 Charlton leasehold property is £350. For Charlton 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 provide answers.

Having spent months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Charlton. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Charlton conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Charlton property is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Charlton what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Charlton. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• 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 could 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. Birmingham Midshires, The Mortgage Works, and Barclays Direct all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Charlton