Expecting to complete next month on a basement flat in Ruislip Gardens. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Ruislip Gardens should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Are pets allowed in the flat?

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

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Ruislip Gardens please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Ruislip Gardens

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Ruislip Gardens. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. 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 reputable estate agent office in Ruislip Gardens where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Ruislip Gardens conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ruislip Gardens from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ruislip Gardens can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Ruislip Gardens levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ruislip Gardens.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Ruislip Gardens leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you dont have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

A minority of Ruislip Gardens leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. 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. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 solicitors.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Ruislip Gardens home move. Where a duplicate share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on the sale of our £200000 flat in Ruislip Gardens next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Ruislip Gardens?

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

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Ruislip Gardens
• 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 Ruislip Gardens leasehold premises is £350. For Ruislip Gardens 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 am the proprietor of a basement flat in Ruislip Gardens. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Ruislip Gardens conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Ruislip Gardens premises is Flat 72 Queens Walk in January 2013. The Tribunals calculated the premium payable to be £22,090. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 53.26 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ruislip Gardens