Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Bartley Green. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bartley Green should include some of the following:

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

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

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Bartley Green please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Bartley Green

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Bartley Green.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly maintenance 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 management companies 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 house in Bartley Green. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. 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 long established estate agency in Bartley Green where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Bartley Green conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 purchaser.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £250000 apartment in Bartley Green in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bartley Green?

Bartley Green conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually results in fees being levied by landlords agents :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bartley Green
• 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 Bartley Green leasehold premises is £350. For Bartley Green 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 provide the information.

I invested in buying a garden flat in Bartley Green, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Bartley Green with over 90 years remaining are worth £244,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

You have 65 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £15,200 and £17,600 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bartley Green