I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Yate. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Yate ?

The majority of houses in Yate are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Yate in which case you should be shopping around for a Yate conveyancing solicitor 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. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

I own a leasehold flat in Yate. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Yate who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Yate conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Yate where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Yate conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Yate with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Yate can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Yate levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Yate.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Yate leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Yate home move. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 350000 flat in Yate in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Yate?

Yate conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times results in administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Yate
• 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 Yate leasehold property is £350. For Yate 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 bought a 2 bed flat in Yate, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2006. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Yate with a long lease are worth £224,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2096

With only 70 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.