I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Tedburn St Mary.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 managing agents 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Tedburn St Mary. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Tedburn St Mary who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Tedburn St Mary conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Tedburn St Mary where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Tedburn St Mary conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £225000 maisonette in Tedburn St Mary in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Tedburn St Mary?

For most leasehold sales in Tedburn St Mary conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Tedburn St Mary
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Tedburn St Mary leasehold property is £350. For Tedburn St Mary 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.

What are the frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Tedburn St Mary properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tedburn St Mary is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Britannia all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Tedburn St Mary Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Many Tedburn St Mary leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the building levied on behalf of the landlord. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this charge, usually quarterly accross the year. This may vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant sum, say about £50-£100 but you need to check as on occasion it can be surprisingly expensive. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tedburn St Mary