I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in The Hale. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in The Hale - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a The Hale conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a The Hale conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non The Hale 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 experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

How many lease extensions have they completed in The Hale in the last twenty four months?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in The Hale from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in The Hale can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in The Hale state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

Some The Hale leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice 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 yearly 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 lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £200000 garden flat in The Hale in 10 days. The managing agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in The Hale?

The Hale conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by landlords agents :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in The Hale
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 The Hale leasehold property is £350. For The Hale 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.

I am the leaseholder of a first floor flat in The Hale. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for a lease extension?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a The Hale conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a The Hale flat is 20 Orchard Court Stonegrove in June 2009. The tribunal decided that a premium of £11,040 should be payable for the new lease This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71.55 years.

What makes a The Hale lease defective?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in The Hale. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Chelsea Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.