I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Milton. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or working from home

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Milton please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Milton

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Milton.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 two flats in Milton which have about forty five years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Milton is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 a residence 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 Milton 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 You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Milton conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Milton conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Milton conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £500000 flat in Milton in just under a week. The management company has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Milton?

Milton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily results in administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Milton
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Milton leasehold premises is £350. For Milton 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 supply the information.

I acquired a 2 bed flat in Milton, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Milton with an extended lease are worth £184,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2092

With 67 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Milton