I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Melbourne. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.For instance, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
• You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Melbourne.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you clear the service charge 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.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Melbourne. 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. It is an essential part 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Melbourne from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Melbourne can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Melbourne charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Melbourne.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Melbourne leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you fail to have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Melbourne conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 225000 maisonette in Melbourne next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Melbourne?

Melbourne conveyancing on leasehold apartments often involves the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to 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 in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Melbourne Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Many Melbourne leasehold flats will have a service charge for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Should you buy the apartment you will have to meet this liability, normally periodically during the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, normally this is not a significant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.