I have just started marketing my basement flat in Burnley.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you pay 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am looking at a two flats in Burnley which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Burnley. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Burnley. 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 be sure 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 am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Burnley where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Burnley conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Burnley with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Burnley can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Burnley charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Burnley.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Burnley state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Burnley conveyancing deal. Where a new share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Burnley - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Where a Burnley lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend 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 you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Burnleylease extensions you will need to own the premises for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease. Who manages the block?