Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Totnes. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Totnes - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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’m about to sell my basement flat in Totnes.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Totnes where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Totnes conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Totnes from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Totnes can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Totnes charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Totnes.
• Some Totnes leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 225000 flat in Totnes in just under a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Totnes?

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

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Totnes
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Totnes leasehold property is £350. For Totnes 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.

Totnes Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the leaseholders? Be sure to enquire if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Totnes leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Totnes. If you like the propertyin Totnes but your cat can’t make the move with you then you will be faced hard determination.