I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Smethwick. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Smethwick - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

I would like to sublet my leasehold flat in Smethwick. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Some leases for properties in Smethwick do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Smethwick. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Smethwick with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Smethwick can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• A minority of Smethwick leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Smethwick home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £150000 flat in Smethwick on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Smethwick?

Smethwick conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times necessitates administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Smethwick
• 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 Smethwick leasehold property is £350. For Smethwick 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 provide answers.

Smethwick Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

If a Smethwick lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most Smethwicklease extensions you will need to own the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Plenty Smethwick leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied by the management company. Should you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, normally periodically during the year. This may vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Smethwick