Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Mitcheldean. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report 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 Mitcheldean should include some of the following:

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

Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property 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 included in your report on your leasehold property in Mitcheldean please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Mitcheldean

I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Mitcheldean.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Mitcheldean where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Mitcheldean conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 to extend their lease. 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.

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.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £425000 flat in Mitcheldean in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Mitcheldean?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Mitcheldean 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 pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Mitcheldean
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

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

What makes a Mitcheldean lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Mitcheldean. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Leeds Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I own a 1st floor flat in Mitcheldean, conveyancing was carried out 2005. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Mitcheldean with over 90 years remaining are worth £214,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2105

You have 79 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mitcheldean