My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Stockwood. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Stockwood who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Stockwood conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. 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.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Stockwood where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Stockwood conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Stockwood conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Stockwood conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Stockwood conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Stockwood who can give a testimonial?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Stockwood charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Stockwood leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
• Some Stockwood leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Stockwood conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 300000 flat in Stockwood in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Stockwood?

Stockwood conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I purchased a basement flat in Stockwood, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2008. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Stockwood with over 90 years remaining are worth £240,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2079

You have 53 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.