I’m about to sell my basement flat in St Leonard Shoreditch.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the invoice 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 until 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've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in St Leonard Shoreditch. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in St Leonard Shoreditch are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in St Leonard Shoreditch so you should seriously consider shopping around for a St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in St Leonard Shoreditch where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Leonard Shoreditch with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Leonard Shoreditch can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in St Leonard Shoreditch charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Leonard Shoreditch.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? St Leonard Shoreditch leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

A minority of St Leonard Shoreditch leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a St Leonard Shoreditch home move. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £225000 maisonette in St Leonard Shoreditch next week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in St Leonard Shoreditch?

For most leasehold sales in St Leonard Shoreditch conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in St Leonard Shoreditch
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 St Leonard Shoreditch leasehold premises is £350. For St Leonard Shoreditch 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 the information.

I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in St Leonard Shoreditch. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a St Leonard Shoreditch premises is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72.39 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Leonard Shoreditch