Due to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Finsbury. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or staircase?

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Finsbury please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Finsbury

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Finsbury which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Finsbury. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Finsbury. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 Finsbury from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Finsbury can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• A minority of Finsbury leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Finsbury conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £350000 apartment in Finsbury on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Finsbury?

For most leasehold sales in Finsbury 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 questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Finsbury
• 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 Finsbury leasehold premises is £350. For Finsbury 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 answers.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Finsbury conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Finsbury conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Finsbury property is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 66.8 years.