I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Pitstone.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Pitstone which have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Pitstone is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Pitstone conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Pitstone. 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 lessee 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 ensure 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Pitstone with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Pitstone can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Pitstone state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.

A minority of Pitstone leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any 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 purchasers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £225000 maisonette in Pitstone in 10 days. The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Pitstone?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Pitstone
• 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 Pitstone leasehold premises is £350. For Pitstone 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 required to supply the information.

Pitstone Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before buying

Most Pitstone leasehold apartments will have a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. If you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly accross the year. This could vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a large sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to check as sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive. The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although there some managing agents in Pitstone ask leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Pitstone