Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Swinton:

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When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Swinton, you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner with leasehold experience. Whether your mortgage company is to be Santander, Birmingham Midshires or Bradford & Bingley be sure to find a lawyer on their panel. Find a Swinton conveyancing lawyer with our search tool

Swinton leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Swinton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 management companies 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.

Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold flat in Swinton. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Swinton who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Swinton conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Swinton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Swinton with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

  • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Swinton can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
  • Some Swinton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Swinton home move. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

    • Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £150000 maisonette in Swinton next week. The management company has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Swinton?

    Swinton conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

    Swinton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

      In the main the cost for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Swinton obliged leaseholders to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. It would be wise to discover if the the lease includes any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Swinton. If you like the flatin Swinton but your cat can’t live with you then you have a very hard compromise. How is the lease structured?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Swinton