I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Winchcombe. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Winchcombe - 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.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Winchcombe.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 managing agents 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Winchcombe. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Winchcombe from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Winchcombe can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Winchcombe charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Winchcombe.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Winchcombe state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Winchcombe home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 275000 flat in Winchcombe next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Winchcombe?

Winchcombe conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily necessitates administration charges raised by freeholders :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Winchcombe
• 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 Winchcombe leasehold premises is £350. For Winchcombe 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.

Winchcombe Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Please note that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are happy with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. This question is important as a) areas can result in problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have all the details