I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Reading. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Reading - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold house in Reading. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Reading who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Reading conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Reading conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Reading conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Reading conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

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

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Reading can be reduced where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• A minority of Reading 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 put in hand 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 purchasers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Reading home move. Where a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £375000 flat in Reading in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Reading?

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

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Reading
• 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 Reading leasehold property is £350. For Reading 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.

I own a garden flat in Reading, conveyancing was carried out in 2001. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Reading with an extended lease are worth £200,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2090

You have 68 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £14,300 and £16,400 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Reading