I’m about to sell my basement apartment in Gants Hill.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the invoice 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 unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Gants Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. However, 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Gants Hill where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Gants Hill conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Gants Hill from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Gants Hill can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Gants Hill charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Gants Hill.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Gants Hill conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 300000 garden flat in Gants Hill next Wednesday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Gants Hill?

Gants Hill conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Despite our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Gants Hill. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Gants Hill flat is 59 & 59a Clarendon Gardens in February 2014. The Tribunals valuation for the freehold was £30,073.00 The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 65 and 61.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Gants Hill - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

You should be aware if it is fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this will be. For most Gants Hilllease extensions you would need to own the premises for two years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension.