Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Pentraeth. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Pentraeth who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Pentraeth conveyancing solicitor 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 rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Pentraeth where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Pentraeth conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser 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 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 purchaser.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Pentraeth conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Pentraeth conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Pentraeth conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £500000 flat in Pentraeth on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Pentraeth?

Pentraeth conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Pentraeth what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Pentraeth. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society 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 withdraw.

I bought a split level flat in Pentraeth, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2004. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Pentraeth with a long lease are worth £215,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2105

You have 80 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Pentraeth