I am hoping to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Coombe. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the property, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Coombe. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Coombe who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be 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 Coombe conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Coombe. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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).

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Coombe conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Coombe conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Coombe 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:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Coombe from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Coombe charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. 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 frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Coombe.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Coombe leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 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 clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage 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.

I inherited a second floor flat in Coombe. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?

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

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Coombe residence is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case was in relation to 1 flat.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Coombe - A selection of Queries before buying

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? You will want to discover as much as possible about the company managing the building as they will either make living at the property much easier or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day issues like the tidiness of the communal areas. You should not be shy to ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with their management. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that the service fees are due to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending that money.