Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Marshalls Park. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Marshalls Park - 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Marshalls Park. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Marshalls Park who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Marshalls Park conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Marshalls Park. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 employed by a reputable estate agency in Marshalls Park where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Marshalls Park conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £500000 flat in Marshalls Park in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Marshalls Park?

Marshalls Park conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

Marshalls Park Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Most Marshalls Park leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the landlord. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically during the year. This may vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to check as on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. Best to be warned whether window replacement or some other major work is due in the near future that will be shared between the leaseholders and may well dramatically impact the level of the service costs or result in a one time payment.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Marshalls Park