Due to exchange soon on a garden flat in Saltdean. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

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

The physical extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but could also include a loft or cellar if applicable.

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

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

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 you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Saltdean please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Saltdean

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Saltdean.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the service charge 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Saltdean where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Saltdean conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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 sale.

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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £175000 apartment in Saltdean in seven days. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Saltdean?

For most leasehold sales in Saltdean 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 conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Saltdean
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Saltdean leasehold property is £350. For Saltdean 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 answers.

Are there frequently found deficiencies that you see in leases for Saltdean properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Saltdean - Sample of Queries before buying

On the whole the outlay for major works are not included within service charges, although there some managing agents in Saltdean obliged leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the lessees benefit from control and although a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. How many years remain on the lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Saltdean