Due to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Marshfield. Conveyancing solicitors assured me 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 Marshfield should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Marshfield.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you 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 managing agents 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.

I own a leasehold house in Marshfield. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Marshfield who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Marshfield conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Marshfield. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Marshfield where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Marshfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, 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 purchaser.

Marshfield Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Most Marshfield leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the building levied by the freeholder. Where you acquire the flat you will have to pay this charge, usually in instalments during the year. This can differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a significant figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive. It would be sensible to find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Marshfield. If you like the apartmentin Marshfield but your cat is not allowed to live with you then you have a very difficult choice. In the main the outlay for major works are not built into the service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Marshfield ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for larger repairs or maintenance.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Marshfield