Expecting to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Stockwood. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

Does the lease prevent you from renting out the property, or working from home

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Stockwood please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Stockwood

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Stockwood. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Stockwood where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Stockwood conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Stockwood levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stockwood.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Stockwood leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

Some Stockwood 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 obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 solicitors.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £400000 maisonette in Stockwood on Monday in a week. The management company has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Stockwood?

Stockwood conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times necessitates administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Stockwood
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Stockwood leasehold property is £350. For Stockwood 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 the information.

Stockwood Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The best form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Where a Stockwood lease has less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease. How many years remain on the lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Stockwood