You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Washwood Heath. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Washwood Heath should include some of the following:

• Setting out your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.E.G., does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?
• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• 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 your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Washwood Heath please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Washwood Heath

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Washwood Heath. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Washwood Heath who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Washwood Heath conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, 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 a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Washwood Heath where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Washwood Heath conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 proposed purchaser 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 Washwood Heath from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Washwood Heath can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Washwood Heath charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Washwood Heath.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Washwood Heath leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Washwood Heath home move. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 275000 garden flat in Washwood Heath on Wednesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Washwood Heath?

For most leasehold sales in Washwood Heath 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 conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Washwood Heath
• 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 Washwood Heath leasehold property is £350. For Washwood Heath 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 obliged to provide the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Washwood Heath - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Is there a share of the freehold? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?