Property Management

PompeyPete

We're very close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our freehold property.
The house is on a supposedly private estate, and we employ a property management company.
We pay our management block and estate charges 6 monthly in advance.
In order to get a release from the management company our solicitor has been told we must pay the management company £150 + Vat for a Pre-Sales Pack.
Seems a lot of money. Anybody know what this pack is all about?

A certificate of compliance of the restriction has also been mentioned.
What's this?

Cheers

PompeyPete

Bump!
Any advice welcomed.

Richard_Webster

Buyer's solicitor will want to see details of the service charge and how it is worked out and to make sure that you are up to date etc. The Property Management Company would have to answer those and would make a charge for doing that - £150 is pretty typical I'm afraid.

It depends on exactly how the service charge is collected from a legal point of view and you will have to get your solicitors to explain.

If there are covenants in the original transfer when the house was built to pay the service charge then these only bind the original buyer unless each successive buyer signs a deed of covenant with the company. To make sure they sign that deed there will be wording on the Land register preventing a transfer of title being registered without a certificate of compliance from the management company saying that the deed of covenant has been signed.

If the service charge is collected by means of a variable rent charge then the deed of covenant is not needed but the company will still want to know who the buyers are and so they will only issue such a certificate after they have had notice of the transfer.

Usually the certificate of compliance costs are payable by the buyer but the information costs for the pre-sale pack by the seller.

PompeyPete

Richard

Many thanks for explaining in detail.