Expecting to complete next month on a basement flat in Harold Hill. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

The total extent of the property. This will be the property itself but may incorporate a roof space or cellar if applicable.

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

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 a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Harold Hill please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Harold Hill

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Harold Hill. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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 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).

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

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Harold Hill conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Harold Hill 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:

• How many lease extensions have they conducted in Harold Hill in the last twenty four months?

Can they put you in touch with client in Harold Hill who can give a testimonial?

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £325000 maisonette in Harold Hill on Thursday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Harold Hill?

Harold Hill conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves fees being raised by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Harold Hill
• 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 Harold Hill leasehold premises is £350. For Harold Hill 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 correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harold Hill. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Harold Hill flat is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 57.5 years.

What makes a Harold Hill lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Harold Hill is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Harold Hill