When purchasing a property, you may come across the term apportionments. This is normally applicable in leasehold properties whereby management companies are involved and payment of service charges and/or ground rent is required. However, this may also be applicable in right to buy purchases where payment of rent is involved. Apportionments are essentially any outgoing costs that are due on the date of completion between the vendor and the purchaser. It is not uncommon however, for these outgoings to be already paid by the seller up to a certain date, in which payment overlaps to the date of completion. A common example is when service charge and ground rent has already been paid quarterly or half yearly, meaning the new owner of the property would have to pay for the apportionments calculated up to the completion date on top of the purchase price. Sometimes solicitors do not provide apportionment statements until after exchange, so it is important to note that the completion statement is subject to apportionments for leasehold properties.
