I own a leasehold house in Park Langley. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Park Langley who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Park Langley conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Park Langley. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. A critical element 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Park Langley where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Park Langley conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller 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. This means 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 needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Park Langley with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Park Langley can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Park Langley charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Park Langley.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Park Langley leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Park Langley home move. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider 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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £475000 flat in Park Langley in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Park Langley?

Park Langley conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Park Langley
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Park Langley leasehold property is £350. For Park Langley 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 supply answers.

Park Langley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Does this lease have in excess of 90 years left? The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees benefit from control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. The majority of Park Langley leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block levied by the freeholder. If you buy the property you will have to meet this contribution, normally quarterly accross the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, normally this is not a large amount, say about £50-£100 but you need to check as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Park Langley