My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Woburn Sands. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Woburn Sands who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Woburn Sands conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note 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 looking at a two flats in Woburn Sands both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a reputable estate agency in Woburn Sands where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Woburn Sands conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Woburn Sands from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Woburn Sands can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Some Woburn Sands leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Woburn Sands home move. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 475000 flat in Woburn Sands on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Woburn Sands?

Woburn Sands conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Woburn Sands
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Woburn Sands leasehold property is £350. For Woburn Sands 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 Woburn Sands - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

In the main the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Woburn Sands obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger repairs or maintenance. The answer will be important as a) areas may result in problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the running of the building you will want to have full disclosure