Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Sunningdale.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Sunningdale both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Sunningdale is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Sunningdale conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

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

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Sunningdale conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Sunningdale conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Sunningdale who can give a testimonial?

What are the charges for lease extension work?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Sunningdale with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sunningdale can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Sunningdale charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sunningdale.

Some Sunningdale leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £375000 garden flat in Sunningdale on Monday in a week. The management company has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Sunningdale?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Sunningdale conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Sunningdale
• 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 Sunningdale leasehold premises 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 provide answers.

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

Who are the managing agents? Does the lease have in excess of 82 years unexpired? The majority of Sunningdale leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied by the landlord. If you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this amount, normally in instalments throughout the year. This may differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Sunningdale