You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Sudbury. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Sudbury should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Sudbury please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Sudbury

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Sudbury which have about 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason 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 because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Sudbury conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Sudbury conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Sudbury conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
• How many lease extensions have they completed in Sudbury in the last 12 months?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Sudbury from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sudbury can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Sudbury levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sudbury.
• Some Sudbury leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry 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 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 ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Sudbury home move. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 400000 garden flat in Sudbury next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Sudbury?

Sudbury conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Sudbury
• 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 Sudbury leasehold premises is £350. For Sudbury 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 the information.

Having spent months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Sudbury. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Sudbury property is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 74 years.

I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in Sudbury, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Sudbury with a long lease are worth £244,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2087

With only 61 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £24,700 and £28,600 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.