Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Wycombe Marsh.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear 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 attracted to a couple of apartments in Wycombe Marsh both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Wycombe Marsh. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Wycombe Marsh. 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. It is an essential part 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).

I work for a busy estate agent office in Wycombe Marsh where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Wycombe Marsh conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £175000 maisonette in Wycombe Marsh in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Wycombe Marsh?

Wycombe Marsh conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Wycombe Marsh Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Where a Wycombe Marsh lease has fewer than 80 years it will impact the salability of the flat. Check with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this will be. For most Wycombe Marshlease extensions you will be required to have been the owner of the residence for 24 months in order to be eligible to extend the lease. Its a good idea to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they can either make your life much easier or problematic. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily issues such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Ask other people what they think of their service. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example it is very common in Wycombe Marsh leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Wycombe Marsh. If you love the flatin Wycombe Marsh however your cat can’t live with you then you will be presented with a hard decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Wycombe Marsh