Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Perranporth. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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. However, 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 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 a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Perranporth where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Perranporth conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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. 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 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 offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Perranporth conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Perranporth 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 make enquires with several firms including non Perranporth conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Perranporth in the last 12 months?

We expect to complete our sale of a £150000 maisonette in Perranporth on Friday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Perranporth?

Perranporth conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often involves the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

What are the frequently found problems that you encounter in leases for Perranporth properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Perranporth. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• 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. Birmingham Midshires, Barnsley Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Perranporth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? In the main the cost for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Perranporth ask leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works. What prohibitions are there in the Perranporth Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Perranporth