I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Melling. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Melling should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Melling please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Melling

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Melling. 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. However, 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 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Melling where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Melling conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Melling from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Melling can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Melling charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Melling.

A minority of Melling leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Melling conveyancing deal. If a new share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £250000 maisonette in Melling in just under a week. The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Melling?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Melling
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Melling leasehold premises is £350. For Melling 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 provide the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Melling - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

It would be prudent to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day issues such as the upkeep of the common parts. Don't be afraid to ask other people if they are happy with them. In conclusion, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the relevant party and specifically what it includes. It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other major work is anticipated that will be shared by the tenants and may well materially increase the the service costs or require a specific invoice. For many Melling leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Melling require leaseholders to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Melling