I have just started marketing my basement flat in Trefnant.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Trefnant where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Trefnant conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Trefnant conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Trefnant conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Trefnant conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Trefnant from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Trefnant can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Trefnant leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Trefnant conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 450000 flat in Trefnant in seven days. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Trefnant?

Trefnant conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Trefnant
• 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 Trefnant leasehold premises is £350. For Trefnant 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 provide the information.

I purchased a split level flat in Trefnant, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Trefnant with a long lease are worth £225,000. The ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2101

With only 75 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.