You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Planning to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Ramsbottom. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the building.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Ramsbottom please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Ramsbottom

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Ramsbottom.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Ramsbottom. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Ramsbottom who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Ramsbottom conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Ramsbottom from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ramsbottom can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Ramsbottom charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ramsbottom.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Ramsbottom state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.
• Some Ramsbottom leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 225000 maisonette in Ramsbottom in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Ramsbottom?

Ramsbottom conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally results in administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Ramsbottom
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Ramsbottom leasehold property is £350. For Ramsbottom 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 supply the information.

I bought a basement flat in Ramsbottom, conveyancing was carried out 1999. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Ramsbottom with an extended lease are worth £220,000. The ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2080

With 54 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.