I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Uckfield. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Uckfield - 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Uckfield. 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Uckfield where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Uckfield conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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. This means that the buyer 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Uckfield conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Uckfield conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Uckfield conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Uckfield in the last year?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 150000 flat in Uckfield on Thursday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Uckfield?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Uckfield
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Uckfield leasehold premises is £350. For Uckfield 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 answers.

Uckfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Where a Uckfield lease has less than 80 years it will impact the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the residence for a couple of years before you are legally able to carry out a lease extension. The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants enjoy control and even though a managing agent is usually retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.