I’m about to sell my garden flat in Ellesmere Port.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Ellesmere Port both have approximately 50 years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Ellesmere Port is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Ellesmere Port conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Ellesmere Port where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Ellesmere Port conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 Ellesmere Port with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ellesmere Port can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Ellesmere Port leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £475000 flat in Ellesmere Port in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Ellesmere Port?

Ellesmere Port conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Ellesmere Port, conveyancing having been completed in 2002. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Ellesmere Port with a long lease are worth £181,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2085

With only 60 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ellesmere Port