I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Sydenham Hill.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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 today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Sydenham Hill. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Sydenham Hill are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Sydenham Hill in which case you should be shopping around for a Sydenham Hill conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Sydenham Hill 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 Sydenham Hill conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Sydenham Hill conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• Some Sydenham Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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.

We expect to complete the sale of our £400000 apartment in Sydenham Hill next Thursday . The management company has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Sydenham Hill?

Sydenham Hill conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Sydenham Hill. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Sydenham Hill residence is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.04 years.