You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Due to complete next month on a studio apartment in Thornhill. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Thornhill should include some of the following:

• The physical extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but may incorporate a loft or cellar if applicable.
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Thornhill please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Thornhill

I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Thornhill.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 until 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.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Thornhill where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Thornhill conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start 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 at the same time as 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Thornhill conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Thornhill conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Thornhill conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions have they completed in Thornhill in the last twenty four months?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 475000 apartment in Thornhill on Thursday in a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Thornhill?

Thornhill conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates administration charges raised by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Thornhill
• 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 Thornhill leasehold premises is £350. For Thornhill 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.

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

Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Thornhill leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Thornhill. If you like the apartmentin Thornhill yet your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult determination.