I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Sunningdale.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Sunningdale. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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).

I work for a busy estate agency in Sunningdale where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Sunningdale conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having 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 sale.

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.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Sunningdale conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Sunningdale conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Sunningdale conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Sunningdale who can give a testimonial?

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 325000 flat in Sunningdale in 8 days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Sunningdale?

Sunningdale conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Sunningdale
• 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 Sunningdale leasehold property is £350. For Sunningdale 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 answers.

Sunningdale Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Be sure to investigate if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Sunningdale. If you love the flatin Sunningdale but your dog can’t move with you then you will be presented with a hard determination. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants benefit from control and even though a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. This information is useful as a) areas may result in problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will need to know about it