I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Tarporley.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the service charge 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Tarporley. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Tarporley who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Tarporley conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Tarporley both have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Tarporley is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty 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 premises 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 Tarporley 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 the agreed 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.

We expect to complete the sale of our £125000 maisonette in Tarporley on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Tarporley?

Tarporley conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Are there common defects that you witness in leases for Tarporley properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Tarporley. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Tarporley Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

The majority of Tarporley leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block set by the freeholder. If you buy the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, usually periodically accross the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a significant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check it because on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. For many Tarporley leaseholds the cost for major works are not wrapped into the service charges, although there some managing agents in Tarporley require leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works. What restrictions are contained in the Tarporley Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tarporley