Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Saffron Walden. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Saffron Walden - 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 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Saffron Walden. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Saffron Walden who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Saffron Walden conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Saffron Walden. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Saffron Walden with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Saffron Walden can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Saffron Walden charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Saffron Walden.

If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Saffron Walden state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

A minority of Saffron Walden 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 obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £325000 apartment in Saffron Walden next week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Saffron Walden?

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

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Saffron Walden
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Saffron Walden leasehold premises is £350. For Saffron Walden 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 answers.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Saffron Walden, conveyancing having been completed in 1999. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Saffron Walden with an extended lease are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2094

With just 71 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Saffron Walden