I am looking at a couple of apartments in Marks Gate both have about forty five years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

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

In a situation 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. A critical element 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Marks Gate conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Marks Gate conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Marks Gate 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 helpful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What volume of lease extensions has the firm carried out in Marks Gate in the last year?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Marks Gate levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate.
• A minority of Marks Gate leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Following months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Marks Gate. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Marks Gate premises is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 61.36 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Virgin Money, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Marks Gate Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

The answer will be useful as a) areas may cause problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will want to have complete disclosure