Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Mickleover. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Mickleover 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 flat in Mickleover.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 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 recently bought a leasehold flat in Mickleover. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. 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 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 busy estate agency in Mickleover where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Mickleover conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 wait 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Mickleover what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Mickleover. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Mickleover Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

What is the service charge and ground rent on the apartment? The majority of Mickleover leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied by the management company. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly throughout the year. This could be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say about £25-£75 but you need to check it because sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Where a Mickleover lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most Mickleoverlease extensions you will be required to have owned the residence for two years in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mickleover