I am hoping to complete next month on a leasehold property in Porthleven. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Porthleven should include some of the following:

• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease contain a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Porthleven.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 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've recently bought a leasehold flat in Porthleven. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. 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 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 employed by a busy estate agency in Porthleven where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Porthleven conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Porthleven conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Porthleven conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Porthleven conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• What are the charges for lease extension work?

Porthleven Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

You should be aware that where the lease has less than 80 years it will impact the salability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Porthlevenlease extensions you would be required to have owned the property for a couple of years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. Are there any major works anticipated that will likely increase the maintenance charges?