I am hoping to exchange soon on a garden flat in Thornhill. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Thornhill please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Thornhill

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Thornhill both have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Thornhill. 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 ensure 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 am employed by a long established estate agent office in Thornhill where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Thornhill conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 buyer 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 needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £450000 maisonette in Thornhill next week. The freeholder has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Thornhill?

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

• Completing pre-contract 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Thornhill leasehold property 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 required to supply the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Thornhill - Sample of Queries before buying

Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the building? Make sure you investigate if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Thornhill. If you like the apartmentin Thornhill however your dog can’t live with you then you will be presented with a hard determination. Please tell me if there are any major works anticipated that will add a premium to the service charges?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Thornhill