I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Windermere.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the service charge 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 until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Windermere. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Windermere are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Windermere in which case you should be shopping around for a Windermere conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will advise you fully on all the issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Windermere. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Windermere who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Windermere conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Windermere. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Windermere from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Windermere can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Windermere charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Windermere.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Windermere home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

I acquired a garden flat in Windermere, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Windermere with an extended lease are worth £212,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2085

With 59 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £22,800 and £26,400 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.