Due to exchange soon on a basement flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The total extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but could also include a roof space or cellar if applicable.

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

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or working from home

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

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Wormwood Scrubs please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Wormwood Scrubs. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Wormwood Scrubs are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Wormwood Scrubs in which case you should be shopping around for a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wormwood Scrubs can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Wormwood Scrubs state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

Some Wormwood Scrubs leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 solicitors.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Completion in due on the sale of our £425000 flat in Wormwood Scrubs on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Wormwood Scrubs?

For most leasehold sales in Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Wormwood Scrubs
• 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 Wormwood Scrubs leasehold premises is £350. For Wormwood Scrubs 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 obliged to supply the information.

I am the leaseholder of a first flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Wormwood Scrubs premises is 23 & 23A Collingbourne Road in June 2013. Tribunal was dealing with the assessment of the value of the freehold reversion and determination of the terms of the acquisition pursuant to an Order of District Judge Lightman dated 25 February 2013 vesting the freehold interest in the property in the applicant. The tribunal assessed the price of the freehold (to which any arrears or other sums due to the missing landlord under the leases should be added) at £81,638. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 64.5 years.