Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Sharnbrook. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

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

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Sharnbrook please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Sharnbrook

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Sharnbrook. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. It is an essential part 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Sharnbrook conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Sharnbrook conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Sharnbrook conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Sharnbrook from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sharnbrook can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Sharnbrook levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought 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 frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sharnbrook.

Some Sharnbrook leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Sharnbrook conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £475000 garden flat in Sharnbrook next week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Sharnbrook?

Sharnbrook conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily involves administration charges raised by management companies :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Sharnbrook
• 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 Sharnbrook leasehold property is £350. For Sharnbrook 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.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Sharnbrook, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2012. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Sharnbrook with a long lease are worth £230,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2079

With 54 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Sharnbrook