I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in St Columb. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in St Columb are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in St Columb in which case you should be looking for a St Columb conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in St Columb. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in St Columb who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a St Columb conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in St Columb. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Columb with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Columb can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• A minority of St Columb leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 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 buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a St Columb conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible 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.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £350000 garden flat in St Columb in 10 days. The management company has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in St Columb?

St Columb conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily involves fees being invoiced by management companies :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St Columb
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for St Columb leasehold premises is £350. For St Columb 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 provide answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Columb - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

What is the service charge and ground rent on the property? Be sure to discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in St Columb. If you like the apartmentin St Columb yet your cat can’t move with you then you will be faced difficult determination. You should be aware if it is no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most St Columblease extensions you will be required to have been the owner of the premises for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Columb