I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Lydiate.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Lydiate. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Lydiate are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Lydiate in which case you should be shopping around for a Lydiate conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority 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 conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Lydiate. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Lydiate where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Lydiate conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £475000 flat in Lydiate in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Lydiate?

Lydiate conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Lydiate Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the lessees benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Most Lydiate leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block set by the freeholder. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, usually periodically during the year. This could differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, normally this is not a large sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. You should be aware that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this will be. For most Lydiatelease extensions you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the premises for 24 months before you are entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lydiate