Planning to complete next month on a leasehold property in Yarm On Tees. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home

You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

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

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Yarm On Tees please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Yarm On Tees

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Yarm On Tees. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. However, 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).

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Yarm On Tees conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Yarm On Tees conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Yarm On Tees conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

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

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Yarm On Tees can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Yarm On Tees charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for 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 usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Yarm On Tees.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Yarm On Tees leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £450000 maisonette in Yarm On Tees in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Yarm On Tees?

Yarm On Tees conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally results in administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Yarm On Tees
• 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 Yarm On Tees leasehold premises is £350. For Yarm On Tees 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 supply answers.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Yarm On Tees, conveyancing was carried out 2010. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Yarm On Tees with an extended lease are worth £188,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2078

With just 53 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Yarm On Tees