Planning to complete next month on a basement flat in Wimborne. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

The physical extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but might incorporate a roof space or cellar if appropriate.

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Wimborne please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Wimborne

I own a leasehold house in Wimborne. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Wimborne who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Wimborne conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Wimborne both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Wimborne is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 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 property 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 property 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 Wimborne 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 You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. 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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £275000 flat in Wimborne in just under a week. The management company has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Wimborne?

For most leasehold sales in Wimborne 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 questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Wimborne
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Wimborne leasehold premises is £350. For Wimborne 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.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Wimborne what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Wimborne is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I acquired a ground floor flat in Wimborne, conveyancing was carried out in 2008. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Wimborne with over 90 years remaining are worth £221,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2104

You have 80 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Wimborne