I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in East Ham.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 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.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in East Ham. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in East Ham who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a East Ham conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a East Ham conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a East Ham conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non East Ham conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in East Ham who can give a testimonial?

What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in East Ham with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in East Ham can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in East Ham state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.

A minority of East Ham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £175000 garden flat in East Ham on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £360 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 leasehold conveyance in East Ham?

For most leasehold sales in East Ham conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in East Ham
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 East Ham leasehold premises is £350. For East Ham 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 provide answers.

Having spent years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in East Ham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a East Ham property is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 69.77 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in East Ham