Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Werrington. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Werrington - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Werrington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you pay 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 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.

Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Werrington. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Werrington who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Werrington conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Werrington. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. 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 ensure 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Werrington where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Werrington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Werrington Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Who manages the block? This question is helpful as a) areas can result in problems in the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the running of the building you will want to have all the details On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Werrington require tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Werrington