My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Tilehurst. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Tilehurst who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Tilehurst conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note 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 attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Tilehurst both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Tilehurst. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Tilehurst from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tilehurst can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Tilehurst levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tilehurst.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Tilehurst leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
• Some Tilehurst leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 400000 garden flat in Tilehurst in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tilehurst?

Tilehurst conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates fees being raised by managing agents :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Tilehurst
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Tilehurst leasehold premises is £350. For Tilehurst 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 Tilehurst - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Be sure to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Tilehurst. If you like the flatin Tilehurst however your cat can’t live with you then you have a very hard choice.