Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Wallasey. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Wallasey should include some of the following:

• Defining your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?
• You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Wallasey both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Wallasey is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Wallasey conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Wallasey. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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 busy estate agent office in Wallasey where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Wallasey conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

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 buyer 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wallasey from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wallasey can be avoided where you appoint 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 purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Wallasey levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wallasey.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Wallasey leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
• A minority of Wallasey leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

Wallasey Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

It would be sensible to find out as much as you can concerning the managing agents as they can either make your life much easier or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. Ask prospective neighbours what they think of their service. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the relevant party and specifically what you get for your money. The answer will be useful as a) areas can result in problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to have all the details