Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Somersham. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Somersham - 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 have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Somersham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge 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 own a leasehold flat in Somersham. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Somersham who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Somersham conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £400000 apartment in Somersham next Thursday . The managing agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Somersham?

Somersham conveyancing on leasehold flats often requires the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Somersham what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Somersham. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Somersham Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders have control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Many Somersham leasehold properties will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the management company. Should you buy the apartment you will have to meet this charge, normally periodically during the year. This may differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Somersham