I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Middlewich. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me 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 Middlewich should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Defining your rights in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or working from home

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Repair and maintenance of the flat

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Middlewich please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Middlewich

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Middlewich.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

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 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 work for a reputable estate agency in Middlewich where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Middlewich conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Middlewich with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Middlewich can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Middlewich state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

A minority of Middlewich 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 bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential 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 the sale of our £325000 flat in Middlewich next week. The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Middlewich?

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

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Middlewich
• 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 Middlewich leasehold premises is £350. For Middlewich 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 required to supply the information.

I bought a 2 bed flat in Middlewich, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Middlewich with a long lease are worth £243,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2086

You have 65 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £18,100 and £20,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Middlewich