I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Thatcham - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Thatcham. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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 long established estate agency in Thatcham where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Thatcham conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Thatcham conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Thatcham conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Thatcham conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Thatcham in the last 12 months?

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham what are the most common lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Thatcham Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

It is important to be aware if fixing the lift or some other major work is due in the near future to be shared amongst the tenants and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or necessitate a one off invoice. Its a good idea to find out as much as you can about the company managing the building as they can either make living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues like the upkeep of the common parts. Don't be shy to ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money. Is the freehold owned collectively by the tenants?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Thatcham