I’m about to sell my garden flat in West Wickham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 until 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.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in West Wickham. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in West Wickham who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a West Wickham conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in West Wickham where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local West Wickham conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. This means 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in West Wickham with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in West Wickham can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in West Wickham levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for 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 reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in West Wickham.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in West Wickham state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.
• A minority of West Wickham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• 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 property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 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 better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 475000 flat in West Wickham in six days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in West Wickham?

West Wickham conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Following years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Wickham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a West Wickham property is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76.75 and 88.83.

Leasehold Conveyancing in West Wickham - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Can you tell me if there are any major works in the planning that will increase the maintenance costs? For most West Wickham leaseholds the cost for major works are not included within service charges, although some managing agents in West Wickham obliged tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works.