Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Pontarddulais.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Pontarddulais. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Pontarddulais 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 in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Pontarddulais conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured 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 house in Pontarddulais. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. It is an essential part 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).

I work for a busy estate agency in Pontarddulais where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Pontarddulais conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 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 sale.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

We expect to complete our sale of a £200000 apartment in Pontarddulais on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Pontarddulais?

Pontarddulais conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Pontarddulais
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Pontarddulais leasehold premises is £350. For Pontarddulais 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 the information.

Pontarddulais Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Pontarddulais ask leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major repairs or maintenance. The answer will be useful as a) areas could result in problems in the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have all the details Who are the managing agents?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Pontarddulais