I’m about to sell my basement flat in Peterborough.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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 today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Peterborough. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Peterborough are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Peterborough so you should seriously consider looking for a Peterborough conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Peterborough with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Peterborough can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Peterborough state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.

A minority of Peterborough leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £250000 apartment in Peterborough in six days. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Peterborough?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Peterborough conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

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

What makes a Peterborough lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Peterborough is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• 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

You will 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. Nationwide Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester 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 grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Peterborough - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

How long is the Lease? You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension. It would be prudent to investigate if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is very common in Peterborough leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Peterborough. If you like the flatin Peterborough but your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Peterborough