Due to complete next month on a basement flat in Soho. Conveyancing solicitors inform me 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 Soho should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• 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
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Soho. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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. 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).

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Soho where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Soho conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Soho from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Soho can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Soho charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack 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 common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Soho.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Soho state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
• A minority of Soho leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 450000 maisonette in Soho next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Soho?

Soho conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally requires the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I own a basement flat in Soho. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Soho flat is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 73.26 years.

Soho Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees benefit from control and even though a managing agent is often employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. It would be sensible to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in Soho leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Soho. If you love the flatin Soho however your cat is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a hard determination. It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other significant cost is pending that will be shared by the leasehold owners and could well materially impact the level of the service costs or necessitate a specific invoice.