I purchased a freehold property in Portsmouth yet charged rent, why is this and what is this?

It is rare for properties in Portsmouth and has limited impact for conveyancing in Portsmouth but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of new rentcharges post 1977.

Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be extinguished.

We are selling our apartment in Portsmouth. Will the conveyancing practitioner have to be required to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.

My wife and I are planning on selling our property in Portsmouth and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Portsmouth lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers used a national conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Portsmouth. We have lived in Portsmouth for 5 years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that there is no issue.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)

I am purchasing a new build house in Portsmouth benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my lawyer about this side-deal as it will impact my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £425,000 garden flat in Portsmouth in 10 days. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Portsmouth?

For most leasehold sales in Portsmouth conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

Addressing pre-exchange enquiries Where consent is required before sale in Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth leasehold premises is £350. For Portsmouth 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 obliged to provide the information.

I acquired a 2 bed flat in Portsmouth, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Portsmouth with over 90 years remaining are worth £176,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

You have 80 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.